Nothing Is True
by blissful catatonia
Summary: Modern AU. Maria is a reporter in Syria covering the uprising when a chance encounter with 2 young men -Altair and Malik- escaping a failed assassination attempt leads her on the adventure of her life. Rated M for violence, swearing and possible lemons. Please don't read this if you are easily offended.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer Ubisoft own AC and Maria is fictional therefore doesn't really work for Sky TV. The political opinions expressed are for the purposes of the fic and are not necessarily mine, except when they are :D

A/N this is set in modern day Syria, during the present civil uprising against the Assad regime. I had to alter time lines slightly (journalists got booted out earlier than my story suggests but then I'd have no story) but have been as accurate as possible.

The cover image for this fic is titled Amal it belongs to Wolfsfussel and it's featured on her DA page. She kindly agreed to let me use it. Amal is the Arabic word for hope, which considering the subject matter of this fic I think is incredibly appropriate :)

* * *

His pace slowed as he neared the pavement, head low but seeing everything he needed to see. His hands reached out to gently push some men aside, needing to pass them but not wanting to draw any attention that would happen soon enough.

His brother was approaching from the other side, both with the same goal and both wearing the same blank expression. They looked like everyone else; nothing about them distinguished them from the crowd they now moved through.

The doors of the department of finance building swung open and burly men dressed in black suits all wearing dark glasses began to emerge. His tongue flicked out to moisten his lips, he felt nerves but it was what he considered the good kind, the sort that made you ready for anything.

His let his hand relax by his side, not quite the right time yet but soon... Then Assad came out flanked by even more men and accompanied by others also wearing suits but he knew they were no risk the lighter suited men would run and hide. His brother moved into place in front of the bodyguards and he took his cue, advancing slowly -still not making any moves that would be noticed- he moved behind the group.

A woman on the edge of the group noticed him, he wasn't making any threatening moves but she saw his face and immediately understood the threat. Her high pitched scream caused confusion and panic among the men and all hell broke loose.

* * *

The battered 4x4 maintained its relentless pace along the dusty roads between towns, the luxury of a tarred surface was no more than a memory to them now. They were bounced around like children at a fairground as they traversed yet another steep rocky mountainside path. Maria pushed her sunglasses back up her nose and adjusted her position looking for comfort that simply wasn't there and hoped for the thousandth time that Ahmed would manage not to roll the car.

Graham her cameraman leaned toward her and smirked, "I've heard of off-roading but this is fucking ridiculous."

She tutted, "Give it a rest will you, I've been listening to your crap since we left Homs. We'll be fine he's got us this far hasn't he?"

"Oh yes we're fine! Between the Cholera and this maniac's driving my arse feels like it's been gang raped by a group of well hung convicts on Viagra but you are spot on as usual Maria... it's all ticketyfuckingboo."

Her laughter only increased his irritation, the poor guy was having a miserable time but God he was funny when he was bitching. Since their second day in Aleppo he had been suffering the worst case of Delhi-belly and it was showing no signs of letting up.

"I'm glad you think my cholera is funny."

Right on cue they were sent sprawling from their seats.

"Why are there no seat belts in the back of this car?" pointing an accusing finger at their driver come translator, "He has one! I am not getting in another car without seat belts and working AC!"

"Shut up! You don't have cholera you twat." She rummaged in her bag and passed him a bottle of water. "Drink this and stop whining, we'll be back in Damascus soon."

Sadly the water never shut him up for long. "I get why we took the detour to the shelled village, we got some golden footage there but why not just go back to the proper road now?"

"Do you remember the last military check point we tried to pass? Because that village is in the middle of a shit load of those and this is the only way out without having some armed Syrian creeping around your already tender orifices with a torch and a shovel."

He groaned and Maria took pity on him. She climbed into the front seat, "Lie down and rest but cover your head with your jacket; you've had too much sun and it's made you menstrual."

She pulled a notebook from her bag and began scribbling she showed the note to Ahmed.

YOU HIT THAT LAST BUMP ON PURPOSE!

He gestured for the pad and paper and leaning on the steering wheel scrawled a reply, Maria noticed this didn't make his driving any worse than usual.

HE IS ANNOYING

She jerked her thumb toward the back seat and made the international hand gesture for male masturbation.

His feigned look of horror quickly disintegrated into a grin. "Promise me you will never marry any sons of mine."

Her eyebrows arched and her eyes twinkled, thankfully Ahmed had learned to recognise her mischievous look early in their friendship... "If you say one word about my daughter I will stop this car and bury you up to your neck in the sand!"

"Don't be such an old fuddy-duddy, we both know that deep down, I mean like DEEEEP down you adore me."

He laughed and when Maria asked if his daughter was pretty he laughed even louder earning them both another ear bashing from the back seat.

She liked Ahmed, sure he was charging Sky a fortune to ferry them around but why the hell not? He had driven them through some pretty hairy places from Aleppo to Homs and beyond he always kept them safe and somehow managed to find somewhere decent for them to eat. Besides it was almost over now and from what they were hearing the press were not going to be welcome in Syria much longer. She leaned her head back against the seat and let her mind wander over all she had seen in the past nine days.

* * *

Driving in Damascus was painfully slow at the best of times but as they neared the city centre things came to a standstill. They could hear sirens wailing and ahead of them a huge crowd of people had gathered.

She told Ahmed to turn off the main road and park up a small side street.

"What do you think is going on?"

She had been looking towards the crowd but she turned back to Graham when he spoke, "I have no idea but I do know it's my job to find out."

"Maria I need to have a shower and die in a nice warm hotel bed!"

He really did look like crap and she preferred the idea of not having him tag along so she suggested. "Okay Ahmed would you please take Gloria here back to the hotel then you can go home. I'll get there soon, I just want to walk along a bit and snap a few pictures." She reached into Graham's bags and pulled out his small camera and took the keys from Ahmed, "Just in case I can actually get the car back to the hotel car park later."

Once amongst the crowd she tried to find someone who could speak English but the best she could find was a young woman who told her in broken English that there had been an attack on a government building and it was possible that Bashar al Assad was the target.

There was absolutely no way she was getting through the crowd, the police had blocked off the streets and forced the people behind cordons. She decided to make her way back to the car and try to get better access from another area.

She raced back to the car her mind whirling with thoughts of exclusive pictures and interviews. In too much of a rush to open the door she dropped the keys. She bent to scoop them up but she stayed still when she heard two loud thumps and a man muttering. The woman in her wanted to stay low and hidden but the journalist won out and she stuck her head up to see what was going on.

There were two men standing on the other side of the street, one of them clutching his left arm the other was supporting him. From what she could make out the one doing the supporting had blood on his clothes, this was not something she wanted to involve herself in. She looked behind her –she was pretty close the main street- and she began walking backwards not taking her eyes from the men.

The one holding his arm spoke to her in French but her high school knowledge of that language was long gone. He saw she didn't understand then tried again in English, "Please don't worry we don't mean you any harm."

Reaching the corner she saw there were policemen and soldiers within shouting distance, she looked back at the men and bit her lip.

"Is this something to do with you?" pointing in the general direction of the uproar, "They are saying Assad is dead."

She knew it was, not the details but that they were involved in whatever had happened was obvious, "There are soldiers and police all over the streets, there is nowhere safe for you to go."

The men spoke to each other low and in Arabic but when they looked behind them further down the side street and saw a dead end Maria got an idea, it was insane but if it worked... It would be epic!

"I can get you out of here, I have a car."

The one with the short jacket and hood whipped his head towards her, "Why would you help us?"

She took a few tentative steps towards the men, "I'm a journalist this is sort of a dream come true for me."

Now they both eyed her suspiciously, "You would endanger yourself for a story?"

Maria ignored the obvious scorn in the question. "No, he said you meant me no harm."

"That was before we knew what you did."

"Okay fine have it your way. I won't help you, good luck getting him to a doctor." She took another couple of steps away from them but this time in the direction of her car.

The one with the long dark coat took his hand away from his arm and held it up to stop her, it was dark with blood, "Wait, will you drive us out of the city?"

She wanted to shake herself, this had to be a dream she would never do anything this dumb but it all seemed real enough, she really was this stupid.

She approached the car and opened the back door, it took an almost super human effort to stop her hands shaking and she was sure they could hear her heart hammering in her chest. "You might have to duck down but there are still some quiet roads out unless the panic from whatever you did has spread to the suburbs already."

They joined her at the car and after he helped his friend into the back seat he turned to Maria, "How well do you know the roads out of here?"

She walked to the back of the car and took a small black case out, "Probably not as well as you but I do know we came in from Qarah this evening and there were no road blocks. We used the hills until Kafr Batna and it was clear all the way." Tossing him the keys she got into the back seat beside the injured guy. "We need to try to stop the bleeding."

* * *

"What's your name?"

Her eyes moved from his arm to his face, now pale and covered with sweat. "Maria Thorpe and yours are?"

The driver threw a warning look over his shoulder but he was ignored, "I'm Malik and our friendly chauffeur over there is Altair."

She glanced over her shoulder at him but his attention was back on the road, "Okay Malik St John's first aid doesn't cover bullet wounds. I don't know what to do."

He put his good hand over hers, "Don't worry you are doing well Maria, even just by helping us get out of here. For now all we can do is apply pressure as you said we need to stop the bleeding."

She nodded and pulled the first aid kit from the case, feeling a tad pathetic for needing comfort from a guy who had a hole in his arm but then again judging by the scars on his body he was no stranger to injuries and by the way he had only winced a few times when his coat and shirt were removed she guessed pain was something he was accustomed to as well.

There were no gloves left in the kit, she had used the last pair on another of Graham's life threatening scratches. She looked down at herself and almost laughed, a bit late to worry about blood now...

She placed all the gauze she had carefully on the wound and began wrapping a bandage around it, "Do I make it as tight as possible?"

He smiled taking the bandage from her hand and spent the next few minutes talking her through placing a tourniquet and padding the wound. After she helped him redress she positioned herself behind him and pressed her hand over the gauze.

They drove on into the darkness leaving Damascus behind them and since nobody spoke Maria had all the time in the world to doubt her decision. There was every possibility that the impetuous side of her nature her father had always warned her about had finally gotten the better of her. No matter how this ended it was going to take some incredible luck to get out of this unscathed.

Ten days ago she would have run off and left them to their fate but 10 days ago she hadn't been in Daraa and watched as they held a mass burial for the most recent victims of the government's crackdown, one of the things Graham referred to as "golden footage " she wanted to slap him every single time he said it.

She wasn't a war correspondent she was what the hacks referred to as a "parachute journalist" , her editor had only sent her here because she had covered the flooding in the UK months before and he felt she was ready to step up a gear. She didn't try to fool herself that she was the best reporter for the job, they wanted to broadcast her pretty face set against the back drop of civil war but she had taken the assignment determined to do a professional job.

Helping rebels escape from whatever the hell they had just done wasn't anyone's idea of professional. Still it was done and she had to go with it for now at least. The strangest thing of all to her was how calm she felt, there was a man on her lap probably on the verge of bleeding to death, a man who had likely just done something illegal and violent yet the only thing troubling her was the thought that he might die.

"Altair he feels cold, should we wake him up?"

"I'm not sleeping but I am freezing, does the heater in here work?"

She tightened her free arm around him and rubbed his chest, "I'm sorry not much works, it's either too hot or too cold. There is some camping gear in the boot, when you can pull over and grab a sleeping bag."

The car veered over to the side of the road and he got out. Maria saw the boot open, "At least now you'll be warm."

When he made no reply she assumed he had passed out again.

Altair leaned in with the sleeping bag unzipped and began tucking it around his friend's body.

"He needs a doctor; there is a gaping hole above his elbow. I think there's an exit wound but I'm not sure."

"There is a place I can take him but its hours away. The situation changes almost daily as does who we can trust." He glanced at her and noticed she looked pale and tired, "Are you okay?"

She offered a brief unconvincing nod while pulling the bag over Malik's exposed shoulder.

Malik was in trouble... he was shaking and sweating profusely, he wondered where they would be if this woman hadn't aided them. "I'm not sure why you are doing this but you have my gratitude."

"I'm not sure either. But if you want I can make a call. My guide Ahmed is certainly no friend of the powers that be, he might know a place we can get help."

When her offer was met by silence she continued.

"I think your friend needs help sooner than you can safely get it for him. I can't promise Ahmed will not betray us but if he does it will be my arse as well as yours, I'm just as involved in this as you are but I'm willing to risk it."

He still looked doubtful but said, "Okay make the call."

She reached for her phone; she had 7 missed calls mostly from Graham. "I can't deal with your drama right now." She called Ahmed.

His phone rang a couple of times then she heard an agitated voice answer, "Maria, Graham has been calling me non-stop where are you?"

"Ahmed I have a situation but I can't go into too much detail over the phone so please just listen and help me..."

When she finished speaking the unflappable Arab asked no questions he simply told her what to do, Maria would have kissed him if he had been there in person. "Here is what you do; go back to where you fed the dog your scraps today and past that you will find a small group of houses behind the hill. Go there and ask to speak to Shamir, it's not a real name but it will identify you as a friend of mine, they will help you there. Then call me from a landline when you are there Maria, I want to know exactly what you have got yourself mixed up in."

She shoved her phone back in her bag and passed on what Ahmed had told her, "We have to go to Mesraba and at the next village along we are to ask to see a man called Shamir. It's not his real name but it will let them know we have been sent by a friend."

"He could be telling the authorities to expect us there as we speak you know that don't you."

She leaned her chin against Malik's head and fought the urge to tell him to let her out of the car. "I know that but we have to trust him, what choice do we have?"

He glanced back at the two passengers and said almost to himself, "Absolutely none."

* * *

This story is based on an idea Enrychan had, I wander to her page sometimes when I need an AltMar fix and it was there. The idea is brilliant and all hers however the execution is mine so if it sucks I'm sorry but I tried. Someone good should write this fic but this is the best I could do.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N this should have been part of chapter one but it was too long so I split them. Chapter one got a bit of a re-write since it was pretty shaky so hopefully it reads a bit better now.

* * *

It started to rain -the first she had seen since she boarded the outbound aeroplane at Heathrow-she found the sound of it pattering against the roof soothing.

Altair turned the wipers on but nothing happened, "Does anything in this car work?"

"Yes the radio does but you turned that off ages ago. Apparently you don't share Ahmed's love of Hani Shaker."

She chuckled when he snorted but the rise and fall of her chest disturbed Malik and for the first time in almost 2 hours he spoke.

"What's funny?"

"Nothing, your friend here doesn't appreciate my guides car or his taste in music."

He mumbled "oh" and rolled onto his side, "You must be uncomfortable with my weight crushing you."

She was in fact horribly uncomfortable but she tried to make light of it. "Uncomfortable was half an hour ago I'm just numb now."

He tried to sit up but she stopped him, "Just lie still Malik. I think we are getting close to where we can find some help."

Altair spoke to him in Arabic which Maria thought was a bit off but since she already thought of him as a bit of wanker she decided to leave him to it. She fished around in her bag until she found her iPod and listened to music.

Altair smirked when he saw her put in her earphones, "I assume that's the polite English way of telling me I'm rude."

"This must be a new record for you Altair; it normally takes you at least twice this long to make a woman hate you."

"She is only helping us because she thinks we assassinated al Assad and she wants the inside story."

Malik shrugged, "That's as maybe but we would likely be dead if not for her assistance. We were wrong to trust Abbas with such an important task; it seems he owes us an explanation."

"He owes us more than an explanation! He had one simple job, to wait for us at the souk and he failed. He left us stranded in a city no longer friendly to our order."

"And he will have to explain why that happened, unless he has gone into hiding."

Altair's face darkened, "There won't be anywhere for him to hide Malik, if he doesn't show up in Masyaf I will leave and hunt him down."

"One problem at a time brother, we need to get there first."

"Her friend, the guide she referred to said we can find friends of his north of Mesraba, people who would be willing to help us. She doesn't know anything about them but we know that area supports the FSA which means we can probably trust them not to ask too many questions."

"It should be fairly safe to stop there but there are never any guarantees."

Altair inclined his head towards Maria, "She has been given a name which will identify us as friends."

"We owe her another debt and we repay her by omitting her from our conversation. If we don't want to trust her then we should leave her somewhere safe because she will never trust us if we continue to exclude her from our plans."

Malik's voice was even weaker than before and Altair found himself again wishing ill fortune on Abbas, he could have at least left them the car! The man was at worst a traitor and at best a coward, it didn't matter which because Altair would not suffer either of those things to exist in the order he served.

* * *

They were about 2 miles outside of Mesraba and he had spent the past 30 or so miles alone with his thoughts. His eyes kept flicking to the mirror, or more precisely to the people on the back seat. Malik was either sleeping or unconscious and Maria was probably asleep.

Malik was right, they owed her a great debt and he was making a poor job of repaying it but he never found it easy to make small talk and he didn't want to talk about anything important with someone who would probably only use it to boost her career. Now at last he had something to say to her.

He reached one arm behind him and tapped her leg. She twitched and the corner of his mouth turned up, 'She was sleeping.' He tapped her a little harder and this time she lifted her head to look at him.

"Is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "We are almost at the village and I wanted to ask you if you will stay in the car with Malik while I go in and look around."

"Of course I will."

"I need to know your intentions Maria; do you want to separate yourself from us here?"

She pursed her lips not really sure how to respond to the question, "Uh I haven't given it a great deal of thought, well coherent thought at least. I was focused on your friend here."

"I understand we can cross that bridge when we come to it."

He pulled the car over and parked it behind a semi-collapsed building. She looked out the window but there was really not much to see, the village was sheltered by a thick grove of trees. She craned her neck to see out the back window, the nearest light was about 100 yards behind them.

"So tell me do you plan to use the force to find the guy we are looking for?"

He was half way out the door so she never saw the small smile which now graced his face. "I have talents Maria, finding people is a speciality of mine."

"So what we just wait here and hope you come back?"

He leaned back into the car, "I will be back soon I have to get him to a doctor so time is of the essence. Trust me and don't worry."

He closed the door and within seconds had disappeared into the trees and the darkness. Maria sat there for what felt like an age waiting, her head turning, reacting to every sound she heard. Malik lay motionless the whole time, she was sure he was in shock from the blood loss now had not the first idea how to help him.

Then she heard voices and they were coming in their direction. For the first time she truly felt afraid, it was entirely possible Altair had approached the wrong person and now they were coming to get his accomplishes. But he was the first figure she could make out and behind him she saw other men emerge from the grove.

They pulled the door open and two of the men took hold of Malik's legs pulling him gently towards him until they got him over one of their shoulders. Altair had come around to her side and held her door open for her but she had barely moved her body in hours and it took a huge effort to get things going now.

He helped her out but once on her feet everything started tingling, "Oh crap pins and needles." She felt like her legs were on fire and her bum was numb so she decided to sit down and let it pass but Altair had other ideas. He scooped her up and carried her to the village.

"Put me down, this is absurd. They will go away in a few minutes."

"We don't have time to wait Maria he needs treatment now and I won't let him out of my sight. Please just cooperate."

She felt daft being carried like this but saw his point. "What are the men in the village like, did they greet you with hostility and do you think it will be safe here?"

"Like many others, initially yes and probably."

The burning in her legs was beginning to subside but the tingling reached its peak; she tried scrunching her toes to ease the sensation. "He must weigh a ton!"

"I'll be sure to be pass that message on to him it will no doubt cheer him in his recovery."

Maria chuckled softly, "You know what I mean."

"I do yes."

They were in the village now and there were a scattering of lights on around the place. At least enough for her to see it was a typical rustic farming community, with flat square houses and the occasional and in her opinion utterly charming bee hived shaped building. She would have to ask what those were later he had other things on his mind right now.

"Are you alright to walk now?"

She looked around and saw there were chairs outside the house most of them were going into. "Just plonk me down over there and go take care of your friend."

He did as asked but before he left he leaned close to her and whispered, "Whether they are our friends or not remains to be seen, do not wander away. As soon as you are able come inside and join us."

She looked up at him about to speak but in the end she settled for nodding her agreement. When he left she blew out a long sigh and thought 'Maria Thorpe you are well and truly screwed'

As it turned out she spent a good deal longer than she had planned to on the chair outside, she was considering going inside when she heard a gut wrenching howl of pain and that made her decision a whole lot easier. "Just you sit here old girl they are coping fine without you."

She had smoked the last of her cigarettes but knew there was another sleeve in her case. Remembering Altair's warning she tried to ignore her craving but she had gone so long without a smoke in the car that the couple she had smoked here made her want more. Not to mention the stress of the situation, it wasn't long before she convinced herself that he probably didn't mean don't go to the car, that hardly counted as wandering since she knew where it was.

She looked around and saw nobody not even a stray dog and so gingerly got to her feet and made off in the direction of the car. She made it as far as the trees before she felt a hand wrapping around her arm forcing her to turn around. It was Altair.

"I thought I told you not to wander!"

"You did and I'm not I'm just going to the car to get my cigarettes."

"That is exactly what I call wandering away; you have no idea of the risks out here Maria. I don't say things for the sake of talking. I am accustomed to having my instructions followed to the letter."

She arched her eyebrows and met him face on. "Well just look at you Mister Large and in charge! However, you have no authority over me and you will not raise your voice at me again."

He glared at her and she almost backed down, "Do you think your being a journalist will protect you here? Do you think these men will stop to admire your fancy clothes and your nice hair? This is not a village where families live with children and pets; this is the base for a group of guerilla fighters who might not have seen their wives for months."

"You never told me that. All you said was don't wander, how the fuck am I supposed to get that I'm surrounded by dangerous men from that piece of advice?"

"You are supposed to pay attention Maria. I am trying to keep you safe and you must listen to what I say." He watched her as she looked around at anything but him, she was still angry but she had got the message. "We'll go and get your cigarettes together."

She made a petulant face and walked on but he caught up in a few strides. "How is Malik?"

"We won't know for sure until tomorrow or the day after but for now he is sedated and his wound has been treated. You were right the bullet went right through his arm which made it easier but it did a lot of damage."

She stopped walking and looked at him, "Will he lose his arm?"

His chest heaved as he sighed "It is out of our hands. They have done all they can for him but there is a hospital in Masyaf that should be able to do more. I will take him there as soon as he is clear to travel."

"Is Masyaf your home?"

"More like our spiritual home but we maintain strong ties with the area and many of the houses in the town belong to us. It is the one place on earth we are truly welcome."

"Are you Free Syrian Army?"

He gave her a knowing smile, "No we are not a part of that faction although our interests currently match many of their own."

She pushed a little harder, "So your faction is what then?"

"Currently wondering where we are I would imagine. Will you be travelling with us to Masyaf or would you prefer to return to Dimashq?"

She grinned and without a pause said "I'll be coming with you I'm intrigued."


	3. Chapter 3

The car was jumping around a lot less than when Ahmed was driving it but it was still unpleasant to say the least. They had to keep the windows most of the way up to stop dust getting and in the mid-day heat the temperature inside the car must have reached well over 100; she was dreading the rest of the journey it was only going to get worse.

"How long will the drive to Masyaf take?"

Malik rolled his head on the rest to look back at her, "Should only take a couple of hours but we are taking back roads and detours so it may be as long as six hours." She was spread out on the back seat with her back against the door, "Are you comfortable enough back there? Perhaps you would like to me to fluff some cushions for you!"

Maria's head dipped to the side, "Do you have any cushions?"

He chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"You know if you want the back seat you only have to say, I'd swap with you." He shook his head but Maria was already packing away her gadgets, "There's no connection out here anyway, I might as well enjoy the view."

"I'm not stopping for you to change seats, you are not children." Altair's tone invited no discussion.

She stuck out her tongue behind his head, "I have to pee."

He sighed, "We have been driving for less than an hour could you not have used the toilet back there?"

She sat up between the two front seats and leaned forward to make sure he could see how appalled she was. "Do you think I'm going to pee in a place full of rapists and God knows what?"

Malik was utterly bewildered, "What rapists?"

She hitched her thumb gesturing behind them, "That village was full of rebels who would do pretty much what they wanted. You're lucky you slept most of the time; some of them were fairly sordid characters."

Malik was exhausted and still whiter than a sheet but he was not too weak to muster an incredulous expression, "What did you do?"

Altair coughed, "She wouldn't listen to me I had to say something she could relate to."

"I see."

She leaned towards Malik, "What do you mean "You see"?" then to Altair, "What does he see?"

"Syria in general is a dangerous place to be Maria; you don't seem to comprehend that. I simply put it in terms you would better understand."

"So there were no rapists?"

He smirked, "I would hardly think so."

She grabbed his sleeve, "I slept in a chair in his room so I wasn't alone. I wouldn't change out of these bloody clothes or shower because I was terrified and you were making it up!"

"The possible dangers were real enough; I... embellished them for emphasis."

"You're a wanker" slamming her fist into his ribcage, "Pull this fucking car over now!"

She had the door open and was halfway out of the car before it came to a complete halt. "Making a woman think there is a real possibility of rape might be what passes for humour around here but it's not funny, you should have your tongue ripped out you lying dog." She stormed off behind them.

"I can't go after her." Pointing to his sling, "And we can't leave her here but try not to bring her back to the car unconscious, reason with her first brother, apologise even..."

Altair threw the door open and put a leg outside the car, "We don't have time for this shit!"

Maria stuck her head up from the back of the car, "Get back inside you pervert!"

In the same fluid movement he was using to exit the vehicle he spun around and sat back behind the wheel.

Malik looked at him questioningly.

"She hasn't gone far."

* * *

They had been driving for about an hour, passing a few scattered desert dwellings and not much else. Malik was now lying in the back sweating worse than before, Altair decided to make the last part of the drive via the fastest route possible, they no longer had the luxury of the safe and quiet roads.

He had been tempted to take him to the hospital at Homs but that would be suicide since they reported any and all gunshot wounds to the police.

As they passed Aqrab he saw pillars of smoke billowing into the early afternoon sky. Maria had seen them too and she looked at him with real concern.

"What if there has been fighting there? We can't hope to get past road blocks Altair can't you just go off road and go round this?"

"We will drive closer to see what help is required."

Malik struggled into a sitting position, "It looks like they have been raided but why, this is a small family settlement?"

Altair shrugged it was pointless to guess.

So far as he could see there were no soldiers or police when they got there, only women walking around looking dazed. Some of them had children in their arms and most of them were covered in ash and soot.

There were no more than ten small houses but they had all been set alight. Maria turned to Malik, "They must have been harbouring rebels Malik."

He was too hot, too tired and the pain killers were wearing off but still he attempted to keep the impatience from his voice, it was unfair to expect her to know any better. "There need only be the rumour of support Maria, I doubt they found anything linking these people to the rebels. It could be a member of the armed forces has land bordering theirs and he has his eye on expanding his property."

"That's horrible, those poor people."

She looked back to the people and saw a woman sitting in the middle of the dirt road cradling a man to her chest; she was rocking back and forth and repeating the same words over and over. It sounded like Ibni but she was crying it was hard to make out.

"What is she saying Malik?"

"She keeps saying "my son, my son" over and over."

Altair came back to the car and leaned in the window, "I've told them we will send help from Masyaf as soon as we arrive. They have taken the men into custody but they swear there were no weapons here." He looked at Maria, "They have small children and we need to get them out of the sun, does your camping gear include a tent?"

Together they inspected the boot of the car. There was a good sized tent and a few bottles of water. She thought of the food and water they had wasted, she had fed scraps to a dog and now in the back of this car she had more than this whole family had between them. "Give them anything they need."

She watched while Altair built the tent and saw he would have it up in no time. She took her bag from the front seat and approached one of the women on the edge of the group, "I have some things that may help a little." Her tone was apologetic as she handed her belongings over, not much more than some water and baby wipes.

The woman's daughter came out from behind the skirts of her mother's dress and tried to peer into the bag. Maria knelt down and held the bag open, "See anything you like?"

With the gadgets and even her wallet in there the only thing she showed any interest in was a small silver tin of lip balm. She took it out and held it up to the child, "It helps to keep your lips soft."

She popped off the lid and dipped her little finger in and smudged it across her lips, "It makes you nicer to kiss." She puffed up her lips and blew her a kiss.

The girl mimicked Maria's actions, smearing her mouth with the stuff but instead of kissing the air she kissed her mother's hand. Her mother turned to Maria smiling, "Lateef."

Maria replied,"Ana ma ba'aref ahkee Arabee." One of the few Arabic phrases she had mastered.

"She says it is nice. We have to go Maria we will send them help, don't worry."

She handed the child the lid for the tin, "You keep it you are much prettier than I am."

Altair translated and the girl blushed, "Shukran."

He was about to speak when Maria grinned, "Ahlan wa sahlan."

* * *

Masyaf was on Altair's left and Maria was straining trying to see the place but they had skirted round the edge of the city on their way to the hospital, "I'll show you around later, the castles mostly ruins now but it is still impressive."

Maria nodded, "I was just trying to get a feel for the place." It looked like a dump but it might be unfair to judge she could barely see anything because of all the satellite dishes.

They pulled into a bay in front of the hospital and the porters seemed utterly disinterested, that is until they saw who came out of the car. Altair's appearance immediately energised the men and they rushed to find a gurney then ran to the car with it.

Malik was taken inside and Altair stayed with him, Maria followed until they went through some double doors that looked like they led somewhere important. She looked around and found what appeared to be a waiting area and sat down.

Maria was on her second cigarette when a man who had been going to the hospital changed direction to approach her and spoke in Arabic, his tone was angry but she had no idea what he was saying. He grabbed he wrist and snatched the cigarette from her hand crushing it under foot.

"Do not smoke here!"

She looked around for signs and saw none, "Sorry, I came out to the car park so it would be okay."

Ignoring her apology he spat, "This is not the West you cannot do as you please, show some respect _woman_."

"Fine I said sorry, I didn't see any signs."

"You shouldn't need signs to tell you how to behave."

She had to make a concerted effort not to recoil from the contempt clearly displayed in his face and as directed by Ahmed she tried not to confront him. "My mistake, it won't happen again."

He circled her looking at her from head to toe, and for the first time since she had arrived in Syria Maria felt truly unwelcome. "You have wandered a long way from your comfortable home. I studied in London for three years and I know your type, Daddy's money got you everything you want from life and you feel guilty for it. Are you here to do a little humanitarian work perhaps to have a nice story to tell your Oxford friends at your next dinner party?"

Neither of them had noticed Altair standing a few feet away from them and Maria wouldn't have cared either way. "I'm a journalist and I'm not here to help, I'm here to report the news."

He sneered putting his face inches from hers but she stood her ground, "You think we care about the West's approval for our actions?"

"I think you better care because "_the West_" is very unwilling to come to the aid of another group of Islamic insurgents because after what happened last time they are being incredibly cautious and I think you need all the support you can get."

His breath fanned her face in short angry bursts; she felt his eyes piercing her skull. She had definitely crossed a line Ahmed had told her not to but this man had attacked her for no reason and Maria Thorpe was nobody's whipping boy.

"Farim, where is Kadar?" His head snapped to his left and Maria was amused to notice a hint of anxiety in his face when he saw Altair. "I told you to bring him here."

"He was at his studies; Rauf has gone to get him. I came to see if I could be of any assistance."

Altair stood between them both, "Wait for them here and tell them I will return soon, I will take _our guest _to her quarters."

He watched Farim go inside before turning his attention to Maria. For the first time he had taken his hood down and she was seeing his entire face -not that it did her any good- his expression was unreadable, but damn he was good looking!

He never spoke and Maria felt the colour rise in her cheeks as he continued to regard her. His gaze unlike Farim's was not threatening but somehow it felt more dangerous. She dropped her eyes from his, "I was smoking and he was offended by it and well... by me in general..."

And still he made no reply.

She forced herself to look at him, "Are you offended by what I said?"

"Farim had no right to judge you, he forced you into a corner and you defended yourself."

When his tongue flicked out to wet his lips, her eyes were drawn to the scar which ran across the right side of his mouth and her own lips suddenly felt incredibly dry. 'What would it be like to kiss him?' His head tilted a fraction and Maria panicked, 'God he can read my mind!'

She took as step back and looked toward the city, anything was better than standing there with him staring at her.

"Those are the ruins of Masyaf castle; the city grew up around the borders of its walls."

"If it's okay I might take wander over there and have a look around."

He walked to the car, "I'll take you inside the ruins later today. For now you need to wash and rest."

She tagged along behind taking full advantage of the opportunity to admire him unnoticed. 'That man has some serious hip action going on and he knows it!'

The only conversation they had in the car was about Malik. When she asked after him Altair told her the doctors were doing all they could but that he had been advised it was unlikely the arm could be saved. She had made no reply; there was nothing she could say.

* * *

The drive was thankfully short and Maria was pleased to see the place looked a lot better from street level. Mostly 2 or 3 storey pale stone buildings and all of them seemed to have children playing outside them.

He turned into a small side street and stopped in front of one of the apartment blocks.

Putting her case on the cold tiled floor he gave her a quick tour of the place. Although tour was pushing it somewhat; there was a bed and a couch and a tiny kitchenette area in the corner. He pulled a sliding door open and showed her a small bathtub with a shower over it. "It's basic but clean and should serve your needs for now."

She nodded, "Thank you, I've slept in far worse places." The place was clean and the bed looked very welcoming to her tired bones.

"If you need anything go next door on your left there is a man there called Felix, he will help you but otherwise please stay here until I return."

She chuckled, "Relax, it's not as though I had planned to go door to door proselytising." But he didn't seem to catch the humour in her tone, "I'll shower and sleep, nothing more."

"I'll return as soon as I can with food and if you still wish to we will go to the castle."

Her uncertain smile caused him to pause as he was about to leave. She was standing the middle of the room nervously fiddling with the hem of her shirt, "Farim is not the norm for the men around here you were unlucky to encounter him first. Don't worry you are in a safe place among friends."

She showered and put on the cleanest clothes she could find in her case before lying on top of the bed. The sounds of the city outside drifted in, car horns and people calling out to each other in a strange tongue she had no knowledge of but these things were comforting to her. Syria was a country full of warm and friendly people; every village they entered had shown her that and she liked to hear their chatter.

Then the melodic chanting of the call to prayer began and as usual most of the other city sounds quieted. She drifted off to sleep, her nerves soothed by the beautiful sounds from the Muazzin.

* * *

A/N Arabic is so hard to translate so I found a decent source and went with it, sorry for any errors.

Lateef: Nice

Ana ma ba'aref ahkee Arabee; I don't speak Arabic

Shukran: Thank you

Ahlan wa sahlan: You are welcome


	4. Chapter 4

A/N I used the layout of the castle from the game, the reality is very different. There is no river around the castle just the city in front and a hospital behind; everything else is as real as I could make it. And Maria's headache is actually my own after writing that horrible conversation they have, I know nothing about philosophy and don't pretend to but the story is about a man who is all about that shit SO I gave it a go nothing more. If it's really bad then fine shoot me but if it's passable for being a small section of an amateurish fanfic then skim over it and let it slide please :)

* * *

Maria lifted her head off the pillow and squinted around the room, it took her a few seconds to register that the soft tapping sound she was hearing was someone knocking. She crossed the room and cautiously opened the door a few inches and was greeted by a surprised grin.

"I was about to give up and come back later, I didn't want to knock too loud Altair said you hadn't had much sleep. If you are still tired I can always come back later." His accent was one Maria was instantly familiar with, his Sean Connery style "s" told her he was Dutch.

She found herself naturally returning his infectious smile, "No I had a nice nap I'm fine for now. Is there something I can do for you?"

"More like what I can do for you. Altair had been delayed at the hospital and he is concerned you haven't eaten yet, he called to suggest maybe you would like to join me for food?"

She checked her watch and saw she had slept for almost two hours. "Erm, yeah that would be lovely I am rather peckish." Pointing inside she asked, "Do you want to come in I just need to shove on some shoes? I'm Maria by the way."

His face went an utterly charming shade of red, "Felix Van Aalst, sorry I forgot my manners." He stayed in the doorway with his foot holding the door ajar.

Sitting on the bed she put on her walking boots, the only useful footwear she had brought with her and regarded her young escort. He had a wild crop of blonde hair and the hoariest beard she had seen on any man who didn't give his address as a cardboard box. She guessed this was an attempt to hide his youth, he couldn't be much more than 18, "So how is it you find yourself here Felix, I didn't think Syria was on the go to list for European travellers right now?"

He shrugged, "I've lived in the middle east for 3 years I came to Masyaf about four months ago."

"Masyaf wouldn't have been my destination of choice, it doesn't compare to Damascus."

His response was short and enigmatic, "Never the less it is where I am."

"Altair told you not to speak to me, didn't he?"

His cheeks blushed an even deeper red than before, "I have just to take you to dinner there were no further instructions."

She seriously doubted that but decided to let it go for now, "Okay forget Masyaf what can you tell me about yourself?"

* * *

They ate chicken Shawarma in a small street cafe as Felix told Maria almost nothing about himself, except to say he was 19 and had been studying philosophy further east but necessity had made him travel to Syria to continue his education.

The less he said the more her interest grew but she could see he wasn't going to volunteer anything and turned the conversation to the castle, dominating the entire old town where they now sat.

"Is it open to the public?"

He followed her gaze to the imposing structure on the hill, "Yes but it closed for today, you can go for a visit tomorrow."

"I'll be leaving for Damascus first thing so if not tonight then I won't get a chance."

His grin told her he knew a secret, "There is a way in for you but you would not have long to explore there is not much daylight left. I can't accompany you there, I have other things to attend to but it's not hard to navigate the ruins, find your way back to daylight and the exit is easy from there."

"Just point me in the right direction."

She enjoyed the short walk up the dusty hill; there was something about rugged terrain that made her feel more adventurous, probably because she was a Londoner born and bred and anything that wasn't concrete or grass was almost an Indiana Jones movie setting to her. He led her past the car park and down a short flight of steps.

"This is the entrance used by staff, it is actually easier to access than the main gate you will have no problem finding your way back to it."

She smiled as she passed him in the open doorway, "Thank you Felix, I'm a bit of a history buff so I'm going to enjoy this."

* * *

Kadar and Altair were beside him and Malik was feeling the effects of the drugs and struggling to process what the man at the foot of the bed had said. He looked to his right hand there was a drip attached to it but his left hand was bare, grey but bare. It was dead, according to the doctor at least and Malik had no reason to disagree; he felt nothing below the excruciating pain in his shoulder but still to call it dead...

He looked to Altair and for once the man's face was an open book; this was killing him and why not? It was his bullet which had torn through the tissue, muscle and bone and rendered Malik's left arm "dead, irreparable." He felt vile tasting bile rise in his throat and swallowed it back down, "Take it."

Those words had taken him an hour to say but Malik would have argued that it was minutes, seconds even. Neither of his brothers had interfered with his thoughts they had sat beside him waiting to see what he would say and when he uttered the words both men looked to the ground.

He felt panic bubble in his stomach then progress to his chest in no time it would be in his throat and he would be in danger of screaming. "Please act now, get it done quickly."

They could all see the fear taking hold of him and the doctor acted quickly, sliding a needle into his left arm and pushing the contents into his veins. Malik turned his head to the men beside him; tears were forming and blurring his vision but he could still see them, his eyes closed two, three times. His lids felt heavy but they were still there, one last time he forced his eyes open and saw them and knew they wanted to share his pain but it was his alone to bear.

The hospital waiting room felt oppressive despite the mid evening temperature having cooled significantly and both men decided to take some air. Altair had explained to Kadar what had happened and the young man still a novice in the order they served could imagine it almost shot by shot.

* * *

"_Her high pitched scream caused confusion and panic among the men and all hell broke loose." Malik drew first and fired two shots into the chest of the guard closest to him and before he had time to fall the assassin's gun was shooting the next bullets into his partner. Altair almost simultaneously began firing and the men on either side of their target fell. This was going to plan so far. Four of the eight lay dead before they had even drawn a weapon in defence and the screaming woman was still standing in front of the president. Two of the grey suited men as predicted frantically looked to make an escape the first ran back to the building the second ran into the road. Altair would have the rest of his life to regret not shooting him but he was a civilian and not a target so he had let him go. _

_The guard behind Assad got his gun out of his holster but Altair shot him before he could aim. Malik moved to the side but Assad was being covered by two men he shot one in the head and had the other in his sights when he heard tyres screeching. The man who had run into the road was hit head on by a car and the car behind swerved onto the pavement to avoid hitting him; instead he hit the bottom stair and then Malik finally stopping only when the woman who had been screaming was under its wheels._

_Malik was thrown to the ground mostly unhurt but one of the remaining guards had his gun pointing at his head. Malik sprang to his feet with staggering speed, causing the man to question what he had just witnessed but that was a luxury he had no time for. Altair's first bullet struck him the neck, his second caught him in the back of the head and his third all but tore off Malik's left arm._

_A bullet whizzed past his right ear and he spun firing two more rounds in the man behind him, more guards were running from the building and Malik was on the ground. He took three steps towards his target but the remaining guard had thrown him back into a crowd of people most of whom fell on or around him._

_There was no way he was going to massacre all those people to get to one man; they would live to fight another day. He grabbed Malik and they both ran around the side of the building disappearing into the El Arsouzy Park behind it. They could hear the incessant cracking of gun fire behind them mixed in with screams but they kept moving knowing Abbas would be waiting for them._

* * *

"Has anyone seen Abbas?"

Altair rolled his head around his shoulders enjoying the resulting crack, "No, I have people looking for him but as yet he hasn't surfaced."

He watched as Felix approached them across the car park, there was no sign of Maria.

Kadar and Felix embraced as brothers and Altair shifted his gaze to give them a moment.

"Maria has eaten and is now exploring the castle I would have accompanied her but we had to find places for the woman and children Rauf brought in from the burned out village."

Altair nodded and looked first toward the castle then the sky, there was not much daylight left and if she was underground when it got dark it could be dangerous for her. "You stay with Kadar I am going to make certain she finds her way out; the woman has no sense of danger. I'll be back before Malik is out of surgery."

* * *

He found her coming up from the lower passages she was standing in the open ruins of would once have been the main hallway looking where to go next.

"The view from the garden is spectacular."

She turned sharply but visibly relaxed when she recognised her unexpected companion. "You must have spent a few summers in ninja camp, I never heard you coming."

She looked like any other tourist with her camera in hand and her over-sized bag slung over her shoulder; he raised his arm towards the remnants of a stair case. "We go up here and through the arch."

She could only gasp as she walked under the arch and entered the terraced garden. Even now in ruins it still signs alluding to its former glory and Maria couldn't help but feel some regret that she would never see it. She looked behind her and saw a balcony, "Strange, I never saw that above the stairs."

"It can be accessed from a hallway above but excavations are incomplete and it is unsafe to go there."

He led her around and explained what various things could have been and led her down to the middle tier. "The bottom tier would offer the best views but underfoot is treacherous so it is blocked off to all."

"I found info on Google it was once home to an order called Assassins. Is that who you model yourself on?"

He didn't want to lie to her but the idea of telling her he was in fact a member of the ancient brotherhood seemed too dangerous. Anonymity was the best weapon they had and he couldn't be sure she would keep their secret; after all exposing what is hidden was her job.

"The Assassin's Creed was a noble one, the ideas they followed were honourable but the order disappeared into the world over 1000 years ago. No one had ever been able to unearth any of their books or documents and so they are lost to history." It wasn't an answer but she seemed content with the information.

"I love how different everything is here especially when you leave the major cities, it's almost like we live on different planets."

"Is London your home?"

"Yes it is have you ever been?"

She wasn't the least surprised when he said yes, he had that worldly look about him; Maria suspected he had seen far more of the world than she had. She sat on the dusty remains of what once had been a wall and looked at the sun beginning to set gifting the world with a beautiful orange hue.

"You know what your friend said at the hospital today is true, I am wealthy or at least my family is and being here has made me feel horrible for the life I take for granted."

He joined her on the wall, "Nothing is true Maria."

She scoffed, knowing it was rude but his statement took her by surprise. "I'm sorry but you sounded like a guy I went to uni with but he smoked far too much weed."

He shrugged, "That was what the assassins believed and it is also what I believe. It allows you to break free from what we are conditioned to believe."

"If nothing is true then that statement can't be true either, it refutes itself. Felix told me he was studying philosophy but he never said it was this philosophical nihilism nonsense."

"Philosophy is only part of it we question all things believing them to be nothing more than an illusion. Religion, politics even morality. It was all created to lead people in a direction that suited their masters."

"I understand your point but I'm equally sure that the things I know are real and true, I learned this from experience and understanding."

"Maria absolute Truth can only exist within your own perceptions; beyond that they are open to the manipulation and scrutiny and would not stand."

She groaned she hated this meaning of existence crap... "Knowledge is unshakable. I understand faith and opinions are relative to whoever perceives them but empirical data is untouchable. The sky is up and the ground is down, that is the absolute simplicity of truth."

"If we never question what we know to be true then we would be living on a flat earth with woman being burned as witches. The creed in its entirety is nothing is true, everything is permitted. It frees your mind and allows you to dismiss what you previously thought was acceptable or accepted based on the permission society has granted a specific deed or thought process."

Her head was beginning to hurt, "So nothing is true and everything is permitted? That's a handy way of doing what you want when you want and feeling no remorse."

"Maria you said yourself you are the daughter of a wealthy man and you accepted the truth of Farim's implication that you were somehow trying to atone for that."

"No I didn't I said I was wealthy I never intended to give credence to his entire statement."

"I don't see her, this rich man's daughter. I see a stranger who stopped and risked her own safety to help us. Whatever your reasons for this doesn't alter the fact that these actions don't support the opinion you have of yourself." He faced her, "The truth is dependent on who perceives it."

The sun had almost entirely sunk into the horizon and Maria walked to the edge of the garden, Altair joined her there. "I have to get back to the hospital Malik's surgery will be over soon. The amputation will take around 2 hours and I want to be there."

When they first entered the garden he told her Malik's arm was being removed but when he spoke of it he seemed so lost that Maria had allowed him to quickly change the subject. Now again with his thoughts back on his friend she could see how much this was affecting him.

"I'm so sorry I wish it could have ended differently." Then Maria Thorpe surprised them both.

She stood next to him and got up on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck. He stood still for a few seconds not sure how to respond. Then he felt her hand patting his shoulder and her grip on his neck loosen and his body responded for him. His arms snaked around her body and he pulled her closer to his chest. His head found a comfortable niche on her shoulder and he let it rest there.

Minutes later she pulled away a little and planted a kiss on the side of his mouth. She was about to suggest they make their way back to town but he tightened his hold on her before she could fully separate from him.

He brought his hand to her cheek as his honey coloured eyes scanned her face for possible resistance, there was none. "Stay a moment longer."

She could only nod, her reason had fled.

His hand stroked her cheek before sliding into her hair and down to her neck; she closed her eyes allowing his touch to enthral her senses. She felt his lips brush against her own and hers eagerly returned the contact. His lips felt every bit as incredible as she had imagined they would and more. Her tongue caressed his scar and she felt, actually felt his need for her grow, she heard him groan as he pulled her closer still, trying to eliminate even the slightest distance which existed between their bodies.

Their mouths came apart leaving both slightly breathless and Maria knew the moment had passed.

He said "Malik, I must go..."

She nodded and looked down at her dusty shoes, licking her lips and wondering what the hell had just happened. She felt his hand below her chin then he lifted her face back to his and he kissed her again, a succession of soft sweet touches.

This time she moved away more decisively and lead them both back inside the ruins. Once they emerged into the dark night at the top of the hill Maria felt him tugging her arm, bringing her back to the door way, back to him. The kiss that followed was deeper and more passionate than she would have believed possible, his hands left a trail of heat along her sides and her body reacted to even the smallest movement from him.

The urge to lead him inside and let this take its course was powerful but she knew he needed to be with his friend. "Okay, stop. You have to go now and I need to find Felix to feed me." She smiled trying to give the impression of control.

He walked her down the hill and into the old town and despite her protests he took her to the apartment entrance. She had prepared herself for their parting to be perfunctory, as soon as they were back among people his calm demeanour instantly returned and she knew this wasn't a man who was going to stand in a street kissing anyone.

"Felix may well be at the hospital with Kadar."

She grinned looking up and down the street noticing the wealth of food stands, "Doesn't matter I'm not exactly stuck for choice now am I?"

He smiled but it looked sad to her and as he walked away she wondered if he was really as lonely as he looked. She fancied it was her wishful thinking; he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen women would throw themselves at him. She looked to the stalls and decided she wasn't hungry after all then turned climbing the stairs to her apartment.

* * *

And I'm stuck for now so next update could be a while but you never know the idea bunny might decide to pay me a visit.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N its back again but double the length. I got some positive feedback after I removed it so decided the lemon was okay to leave as is. Sorry if you already read this chapter just skip past the lemon to the fluff :D

* * *

She had gone back outside to find a payphone to call Ahmed who was currently in the process of giving her all sorts of grief. "Listen I'll be back tomorrow early afternoon and I will give you all the details then, you know I can't go into it now."

"Be sure you are and make sure my car is undamaged."

She had to laugh at that one, "Relax Ahmed your vintage Jag is still pristine. Is Graham still having kittens?

"I talked him out of reporting you missing; he thinks you're off having an immoral liaison with a young man."

She thought of Altair's mouth, 'If only...'

"Good thinking Ahmed. Got to go now I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"The world awaits your story Miss Thorpe, call me when you get back to the hotel and be careful."

"I'm always careful condoms and spare undies are the first thing I pack!"

Back in her room she wrote a short text message to Graham confirming what Ahmed had told him already, apologising for not being in touch but was distracted and what not. She looked around at the small undecorated room, then to the window. Still keyed up from her encounter with Altair the idea of sitting alone in her tiny room felt unbearable and so she decided on going for a stroll along the surrounding streets.

It was late in the evening and most of the stalls had closed but a pair of traders who were still packing up called her over to view their goods. It was mostly crap but she enjoyed the friendly banter from the men so resolved to buy something anyway. Then something caught her eye... "What is this?"

It was a small silver dagger with no handle, most of it had allegedly "rusted" but there was something engraved on the grip.

"You have a keen eye; this is an authentic throwing knife a weapon wielded by only the highest ranking soldiers in the order that used to live in the fortress."

It did look old but she was fairly certain he was bullshitting her but still it was a nice looking thing. "And how much would you want for this thousand year old treasure?"

He went through his usual routine, "Business has not been good and I need to take home some profit for today so I will make you a very good offer... 27,000 pounds."

As always her immediate reaction to prices was shock but then she remembered where she was, "I assume you mean Syrian pounds?"

Misunderstanding her obvious astonishment at the price he decided to barter, "Yes, yes Syrian. I could let you have it for 26 but any lower and I would be making a loss."

She doubted that very much for something he either "found" in the ruins or made for pennies but 25 pounds British was not an unfair price for something she had taken such a liking to. "No, your first price was fair; I needed a second to convert it to my own money that's all."

They concluded the transaction and exchanged a few more friendly words before Maria returned to her room to examine her new purchase.

* * *

She sat on her bed and turned it over in her hand. The symbol on the grip looked like a big letter A but it was hard to make out the detail inside the character. She had always loved weapons especially swords and blades whenever she travelled she usually managed to find something to take home with her, even if it was a pain in the arse getting it delivered or clearing customs.

She put the blade on the small table beside her bed and switched off the lamp, there was still enough light from the street to see around the room but she had no interest in its meagre contents. She had her eyes closed and was back up in the castle with Altair.

Her sexual experience wasn't vast, a couple of awkward fumbles at uni and semi-serious relationship with a guy from the news room didn't amount to much and those experiences combined didn't amount to anything when she compared to what had happened to her body earlier.

Simply remembering his touch aroused more feeing in her than any man ever had, she wanted him in the worst way and in a few hours he would be beyond her reach. If only I knew where he was... But she did know where he was and that made her think of Malik, wonder if he had woken up yet. That should have been enough to cool the fire she felt burning in her belly but it wasn't.

She got up from the bed and snatched a nightgown from the top of her bag. 'A nice cold shower is what you need.' It wasn't what she _needed_ but it was all she had and if the wife tales were true it should help to "soothe her".

She stepped into the stream of cold water and shrieked when it hit her flesh but forced herself to endure it. Her teeth were already chattering when she stuck her head under the flow, "Fuck this I'd rather be frustrated!" whipping her head away from the icy fingers of the water.

Stepping out of the tub she dried herself in world record time, throwing on the nightgown and running to her travel bag, tossing things over her shoulder as she searched its contents. "There's a sweater in here somewhere, come to Mama." There was indeed a sweater and she thanked God for it, a huge baggy woollen number she had stolen from Graham on their first night on the road, when she found out how cold Syria got at night.

As she considered which trousers she would add to the ensemble she heard a light rapping on the door, 'That knock has Felix written all over it.'

She pulled the door open and used it to shield her body. "Altair..." She took a few steps back from the door and waited for him to speak. He took one step towards her but never spoke. She watched him for seconds, the longest seconds she had ever experienced. He advanced further into the room and closed the door behind him but maintained his silent observation.

Her mouth opened to speak but nothing came out.

'Say something Maria' but she had nothing to say and why should she it wasn't her who had knocked on his door, admittedly because she didn't know where his door was but still...

'He's waiting for me to let him know I want this.'

She considered her appearance and wasted a few seconds trying to figure out how to look sexy with wet, wavy hair and a nasty sweater, and concluded you can't. All she had to work with here was attitude so she went with that.

She took hold of the sweater and lifted it over her head, letting it drop to the floor beside her.

He twitched, it was almost enough but not quite. This is guy who had grown up in a very conservative society, sexually at least; she knew she was going to have to be more direct.

She had no need to be insecure it was evident he wanted her he made no attempt to mask his desire; it was plastered all over his gorgeous face and that gave her the confidence to do what she did next.

She smirked trying to look braver than she felt then raised a trembling hand, crooked her finger at him, enticing him to her.

His jaw hardened and as he closed the distance between them Maria had a split second to see the look in his eye and wonder if she was in over her head.

'I'm playing with fire...' then he was upon her wrapping one arm around her waist the other controlling her head and bringing their mouths together in a rough collision. She guided her hands into his hair and let his mouth banish any doubts she had.

She felt an exhilarating rush of energy course through her body, as with their kiss before every nerve was sensitive to this man's touch, to his presence. She gasped when she felt his teeth against her lips; nipping them forcing them to part for his eager tongue.

She pushed his jacket off his shoulders and down his arms, letting her hands roam along the ridges of his muscles. His mouth separated from hers to explore her neck, the gentle caresses of his tongue against the sensitive skin brought sounds she had never heard from herself; she was practically whimpering.

His hand slid under her nightgown instantly finding a spot far more sensitive than her neck, she gasped and stiffened against the contact. He pulled his head from her neck to examine her face; she was perhaps surprised by the speed he was moving but she was not unwilling to feel his touch. He smiled at her before once more claiming her mouth. Her moans grew louder as his fingers continued to tease her with and each moan his own desire flared.

He felt her body begin to spasm as he brought her closer to her climax and he shifted his free arm to the small of her back to support her. Her arms were thrown around his neck clinging to him. He broke the kiss to look at her face to watch as she surrendered to the pleasure.

She met his gaze and wasn't the least surprised to see smugness creeping into his amber eyes now burning almost golden. She wanted to stop, slow down and take control of her senses but his feet were currently kicking off his boots and her hands had just taken off his T-shirt and she knew it wasn't going to slow down. She unbuttoned his jeans just before his hands took hold of her hips and picked her up; she wrapped her legs around his waist and heard him groan through their kiss as her hips came into contact with his.

He carried her to the bed and straightened up his body to finish removing his jeans as she slipped her night gown over her head. His eyes raking over her body, taking in every curve and peak, he slowly lowered himself back on top of her. His mouth caressing what his eyes had just savoured. She began to wonder how he could be so calm until his face came back up to hers and she saw he was just as affected by this as she was.

His face above hers as his eyes again asked for her permission to continue. How had they gotten so far so fast? In this whole encounter he hadn't spoken one word and yet she was lying beneath him giving him her consent. At least now it was slow, she could catch her breath and gather her racing thoughts, but what thoughts, since he had stood before no thoughts of anything other than him had entered her mind, he had consumed her wholly and Maria had gone along with it willingly.

Their bodies joined with one slow graceful thrust of his hips but his strokes became more forceful as their mouths became greedier. The pace increasing at the same rate as her gasps and his soft breathy moans. She felt him tense, felt his muscles tighten up against hers as he thrust one final time, speaking the only word he would utter to her that night, "Maria..."

He collapsed onto her body and lay there for a time enjoying the feeling of her skin next to his. He was still supporting most of his weight on his arms and knew she wasn't uncomfortable.

She felt his breath against her neck and his fingers still tangled in her hair and knew that no matter how long she lived she would never meet another man like him. He would leave soon to return to his room and in the morning she would drive out of his life forever. She had never cried over a man in her life and she didn't now but lying here now thinking of them parting brought her close to those forbidden tears.

He shifted his weight from her and she readied herself for his excuses but none came. He lay on his back and pulled her body in close to his, snaking an arm around her waist and kissing her hair. A soft smile played across his features as he felt her snuggle up beside him, they would lie here together and sleep, he had no more desire for them to separate than she did.

* * *

When he felt her move against his body he tightened his grip on her waist, they were sharing a single bed and if she moved too much she would likely fall. He was accustomed to getting out of bed as soon as his eyes opened but he had been awake for a while and was happy to lie here and listen to the sounds of her breathing. But now it seemed the sounds of the city coming to life were on the verge of rousing her. There had been far too little of this in his life and he found himself willing the day away, hoping to extend the time he had with her.

Her face rubbed against his chest and her soft breath mingled with the hairs on his chest tickling him. She lifted her head and was greeted by his smiling face, "Finally you are awake, I thought I would have to lay here and suffer your snoring indefinitely."

He pulled her on top of him until her body lay flush against his and placed a small kiss on her nose, she nuzzled her head against his shoulder, "I liked it better when you never spoke."

He chuckled softly against her hair, "Yes, I recall how much you enjoyed my silence."

She rested her chin on his chest and teased, "I wouldn't say you were the best but you did okay." Her hand went between their bodies and followed the path of the hair on his chest downward, "You did rush a little."

The scar on his lip twitched, "Are you suggesting I need more practise?"

"It couldn't hurt..."

* * *

She sat on the edge of the bath pulling her trousers over her feet and feeling stupid. After they made love he had gotten out of bed and dressed with no hint of modesty but she had wrapped a sheet around her naked body and gathered up some clothes hiding behind the excuse she wanted to shower first. He had seen through it of course, his amused expression told her as much but was too much of a gentleman to tease her about her sudden shyness.

She emerged from the bathroom moments later and found him gone. "Oh fuck you very much!" She felt a mixture of disappointment and anger rise in her stomach reaching her throat, this would normally fuel her words with the appropriate levels of venom but he wasn't here to hear those words. "Great he still has Ahmed's fucking keys!" She plopped herself down on the bed with a dramatic wave of her arms and considered how she could retrieve the keys while retaining her dignity when she heard the door handle jiggle.

She sprang to the door pulling it open, the sight of Altair trying to open the door with his elbow while balancing coffee and bagels was something to behold, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In the end she settled for laughter, "I thought you had made good your escape while I was dressing." Taking the coffee from him and moving aside to let him in.

"Why would I want to escape it was me who sought you out Maria?"

"You know the whole awkward morning after thing..." she shrugged and took a mouthful of coffee to hide the grin now plastered across her face.

"We started our day as we ended the last, if at a slower pace. There was nothing awkward about it."

"Yeah, I was talking about once the sex is over and you need to find something to talk about." He was looking at her as though she was telling him the moon was made of cheese, "Okay never mind, you obviously don't suffer from wham, bam thank you ma'am syndrome."

He raised an eyebrow and continued to chew his breakfast. His legs stretched out in front of him looking even longer than normal because of the low couch. He noticed the blade on the bedside table, "Stealing our artefacts to sell to foreign dealers?"

"Mmhhmm, I was hoping to retire at thirty, a girl has to have a plan..."

"I'm sorry if my arrival at the castle interrupted your scavenging."

"Well actually it did but by then I already had a bag full of loot so there was no harm done." He smirked and her brain was invaded with lustful thoughts. "Actually I think I was the real victim, I paid 25 quid for that thing."

He reached for the small knife and examined it, "It's real enough but the assassin's used a great number of these so it's not valuable."

She shimmied across the couch and took it from him, "I don't care I like it. It's going home with me even if I have to stash it in Graham's luggage to get it there."

She leaned back against the couch and slashed at the air a few times. His head rested beside hers, "It's a throwing knife Maria, the reason it has no grip is to keep it light all its power comes from how you throw it."

She turned her head to him genuinely interested and about to enquire further but the proximity of his face to hers distracted her, "So... it's a throwing knife?"

Another smirk, "Yes, a throwing knife."

'Stop fawning over this guy Maria, this is not what you do.'

"You have to give me Ahmed's car keys, he's expecting me in a few hours and I won't get far without them."

"You're leaving so soon? That disappoints me I had hoped you would stay a while longer, you can't have all the information for your story yet."

"I'm not going to report anything about what happened my colleague believes I'm holed up in some hotel room with a strange man and I see no reason to change that."

"The keys are in my apartment, come there with me. We'll stop in to check on Malik and I'll drive you to Dimashq."

She knew refusing his offer would be the polite thing to do but to hell with polite she wanted more time with him.

* * *

Making their way to the hospital having collected the keys Maria saw Felix and another young man coming towards them across the car park. Altair greeted them both in English and introduced her to the stranger. "Kadar this is Maria Thorpe, Maria this is Kadar he is Malik's younger brother."

The boy stepped forward to her and kissed both her cheeks, although surprised by the mainly European gesture she returned his greeting. "Thank you for what you did, I owe you a great debt Miss Thorpe."

"Anyone would have done the same Kadar and please call me Maria."

He nodded and graced her with a beautifully warm smile; Maria reckoned he was probably ages with Felix only he wore it better. With his gorgeous dark skin and hair combined with his huge deep blue eyes he was already attractive the next 5 years would only cement that.

"Are you going in to see Malik? He is awake but still heavily sedated."

She looked at Altair and shook her head, "I think it's more appropriate for me to wait outside, it should only be close family who see him right now."

"Altair told me you held him for hours in the back of a car and found them emergency care, I think you have earned the right to see him and I believe Malik would like to see you, he asked if we had made you welcome earlier."

"I'll pop in then so long as he is up to it."

Her words were cut short by a loud bang followed by the sounds of car horns and screeching tyres. All three men immediately ran in the direction of the disturbance and Maria went with them.

"You should wait here Maria we don't know what this is yet but it sounded like a mortar attack." As if to confirm his words another bang followed by screams cut into the air.

"I don't want to be here alone; I'll stay out of the way."

"You must do exactly as I say and keep your head down."

They ran to the edge of the city and Maria noticed most of the people were running in the opposite direction. The closer they got to the point of impact she could see why. There were people in the street some of them bleeding and dazed some of them running around trying to put out small fires. She saw a woman run with a boy in her arms, she hoped they were escaping and not hurt.

She heard the whistling of another shell in the air and felt her arm being tugged pulling her behind a parked van. This close the impact was awful to hear, her ears were ringing and her throat was filling with dust.

"They are being incredibly deliberate with their strikes mentor; so far they have only struck buildings we control."

Altair nodded to Felix and said only one word, "Abbas."

Kadar stood, "They know one of his attackers was injured Altair, they will look for him in the hospital."

Maria was stunned, they were in the middle of bombs dropping and these men were having a discussion about what the targets were.

"We need to move him. Felix you gather the brothers and bring them here to us. Kadar you go to the hospital and get him out of there."

Another shell landed at the other end of the street forcing them to take cover when it cleared Kadar addressed Altair. "I can't leave you here alone; they will only shell for so long."

Maria had an idea, "Is there anyone at the hospital who is friendly to us and who speaks English?"

Altair pulled her closer so she could hear them speak, "There is a woman called Nima, she will be at the front desk. Tell her the Master asks her to assist you and she will do as you wish."

Kadar placed a hand on her forearm, "What do you intend Maria?"

Her expression was cold and Altair found himself feeling grateful she was on their side, "They may look for Malik but they will find only a dead man."

Felix gestured to her, "We should get moving."

She turned to go with him when she felt a hand on her arm pulling her around to face him. He looked uncertain, "It will be okay I want to do this, I want to help."

Altair leaned in to her and kissed her head, "I'll see you soon."

Felix ran with her to the edge of the houses, behind them she could hear the crackle of sporadic gunfire and she knew the battle was closer to Altair and Kadar. Felix pointed in the direction of a huge blue building; it looked like an aircraft hangar. She could see men emerging from it and piling into cars. "I have to go tell them where to go. The army are nowhere near the hospital yet you will be safe. Do whatever you have planned then stay there; it will be the safest place."

They parted and she made her way across to the hospital, behind her she could still hear the sounds of conflict and if anything it seemed to be escalating. The hospital was a hive of activity but no panic anywhere to be seen, they all seemed to be rushing around preparing but it was ordered chaos and Maria wondered bitterly how much experience they must have of this sort of thing.

She approached the desk and addressed herself to a young woman behind it, "I'm looking for Nima is she here?"

A plump middle aged woman came over to her, "I am Nima."

Maria led her to the other side of the desk and whispered the words Altair had given her.

"What is it you want to do?"

"The army may come here to find Malik; we have to kill him before they get here."

* * *

A/N action is so difficult for me to write :(


	6. Chapter 6

Maria slumped into the chair beside "Rashid Abdul's" bed and let the longest, most heartfelt sigh of relief she had ever emitted in her life flow from her lungs. Malik had been awake for the end of it but was still so groggy he kept referring to Maria as Adha and asking after Kadar and Altair. Nima had gone back to admissions to help with the already arriving wounded.

The sounds from the old town had mostly quieted now, the occasional sporadic cracks of gunfire were the only audible clue anything was wrong until you looked out of the window that was. Clouds of smoke and dust covered the buildings and the main part of the city behind it was entirely blocked from her view.

She and Nima had run around like headless chickens for the past hour, trying to find a body in the morgue close enough to Malik's age to switch their identities. Unsurprisingly that hadn't been too difficult but it still made her feel guilty as hell, this man had a family somewhere who perhaps didn't know he was dead and they were making it even harder for them to find him. Nima assured her she would make the switch back again as soon as it was safe to do so.

She leaned over the bed and saw Malik's eyes half open, "Can you hear me?"

His head practically slumped in her direction, "I can hear you Adha."

He was heavily sedated and on God only knew what pain killers so Maria let the mistake slip, "Nima will come back soon to bring you up to date and if anyone comes and asks you anything please try not to answer. You are Rashid Abdul and you were hurt in a factory accident. It's so important that you don't get this wrong."

His skin was on the wrong side of grey but he still seemed to have "lights on" somewhere in there, "Nima will fill me in but for now I can't answer to the name Malik, I understand." He took her hand and pulled her closer to his face. "You're not Adha, she wouldn't speak English. I remember now you're Maria you helped us get away from Dimashq."

"That's right but after all you've been through you can call me Shirley for all I care." He looked worse now than he did when he had been in the car, "Sleep now you need to rest and I need to get back to my life."

He had slept through the worst of the conflict and thankfully it seemed the last few remaining noises had all but died down, she had an idea if he knew what was going on he would die trying to get there to help. His eyes slipped shut again and Maria placed a tiny kiss on his hand before going to the door.

"Adha wait, where is everyone?"

She stopped to face him and he corrected himself again, his strong mind wasn't taking too long to clear the fog. "The last time I was badly hurt Adha had nursed me and my memory is playing tricks on me."

"They are down in the old town they will come to you as soon as they can Malik. Who is Adha; maybe I can contact her for you?"

His eyes dropped closed again, "Altair's wife."

She closed the door softly behind her but it was almost a full minute before she let it go and walked to the lift. During that minute she had managed to gain control of her cart wheeling stomach and her pounding heartbeat was practically normal.

'That bastard must have loved how easy I was!"

* * *

Her cheeks were flame red as she stood in the car park trying to work out her next move. Ahmed's car was in the old town probably under layers of dust if not masonry, she needed to find another way to reach Damascus. She had seen enough of the protests in that city to know people for the most part tried to get on with life so if she could skirt around the old town it was very likely she would be able to find a taxi driver who would be willing to take her.

She ran across the roads and made her way over the dusty ground that lay between the hospital and the town. The damage had all come from the left so she decided to make her way right and try to find the fastest way possible out of there.

"What the fuck are you doing Maria? Go find him and at least make him help you get out of this nightmare."

But she kept to her chosen path preferring to trust her own instincts. She could hear sirens and shouting but it was all streets away and she began to feel confidant she was making the right move. According to Kadar it was only their faction being attacked so probably the newer part of the city would be fine. She saw men dart out from behind a wall about fifty feet ahead of her but they had their faces covered so she had no way of telling who they were.

Suddenly this felt like the worst idea ever and she began talking herself into going back to the hospital and waiting for "someone" to show up. That someone would likely be Altair and it would be a cold day in hell before she gave that prick the satisfaction of being able to ease his cheating conscience by helping her. She took the next side street off to the right knowing sooner or later this would lead her to "normality".

She heard male voices behind her and looked for a doorway to duck into until they passed but she heard their feet pounding on the pavement behind her and knew they were coming to her. 'Please let it be Kadar or Felix please don't be that fucker Altair.' It never occurred to her there were far worse men than him to meet on the streets of Masyaf that day.

A hand pulled on her cardigan stopping her dead and spinning her round. "I knew it was her. This is the little bitch that helped them get away!"

It was the man from the car park but she couldn't think of his name. 'Shit! What had Altair called him?'

Another man with thick curly hair and a full beard inspected her, "Are you sure?"

"Abbas I'm telling you this is her, the bitch was there at the hospital and when I spoke to her Altair looked like he wanted to gut me."

He eyed her up and down, "The Master is being careless with his toys I see. You could be useful to us should it prove too difficult to get out of this place."

About ten minutes before Maria had toyed with the idea of wrapping her cardigan around her face to help block out the smoke and dust but had decided against it. Syria was far more liberal than most Arab countries but she knew it would offend some people if they saw her in the street with a small strappy top on. Now with this man Abbas staring at her she had occasion to be glad she had kept her body covered.

She licked her lips, "I'm not his toy or his friend, I'm a journalist; he promised a story but as soon as we got here it was clear he had lied and now all I want to do is get out of here."

There were three other men behind the two speaking all of them smirking at each other no doubt amused by this western woman's stupidity. "Farim take her, we will keep her around maybe she will want to hear a few of our stories."

She saw a blonde head pop up from behind a car further down the street but it was gone so fast she questioned her eyes. Then Farim was grabbing her arm and twisting it up her back, "We'll have plenty of time to finish our conversation now." His laugh sounded wet and slimy.

"I doubt we would have much to talk about but you never know you might surprise me and prove to be slightly less boring than watching paint dry." She offered him a wide smile which she kept on her face even when she felt his fingernails dig into the flesh of her arm.

"You would do well to remember Altair is not here to protect you this time."

"I hate to shatter your ego Farim but you are not even close to being the worst thing that's happened to me today, so why not cut the crap and get moving?" She heard Abbas laugh but it wasn't any more friendly than Farim's had been. She was in shit loads of trouble here and knew it well but bluff and bravado felt a hell of a lot better to her than crying and begging to be let go. She knew enough about terrorists to know she would never be able to alter their plans and she would be damned if they would have the satisfaction of seeing her bleed.

It occurred to her she had instantly thought of them as terrorists yet it was a word she hadn't applied to Malik or Altair. Strange considering she knew Farim was a member of whatever little tin pot army the almighty bastard better known as Altair was part of. A few streets from the Souk al Saghir and what Maria considered would be the place she might have first looked for help she was pulled off to the left into a small street which bordered the old and new parts of the city.

It was one of those streets were the sun never made it much lower than the rooftops but that's not why Maria shivered. They were taking her in the direction the shelling had come from. If she was handed over to government forces her chances of ever making it out of Syria alive were slim to none. She had aided the men who had tried to kill their beloved leader and Maria knew the penalty for that would be nothing short of horrific.

She heard a loud bang from behind and Farim lunged forward. Maria spun to see what had happened but there was nothing to see. She looked back to Farim who was now on his knees in the dusty street facing what looked to be fresh blood. Her captives rushed to take cover in doorways but Maria stood rooted to the spot.

'He's just been shot in the head.' She should have been panicking but she felt curiosity more than fear and looking to a rooftop above she saw the outline of a man she knew even from this distance was Altair.

"Move it." Abbas would have torn her arm from its socket had she not moved to keep up with him. He pulled her into a building entrance on the same side of the street Altair was on but two more of his men who had run to the other side were taken down within seconds. Two shots fired, another two men lying dead in the street.

"Abbas that's Altair out there you are in the same faction as him. Identify yourself as a friend for fucks sake!"

"Do you think he doesn't know who we are? We serve the same order but he and men like him have ruined it. Assassin's used to be feared, revered even and now people don't know we exist. We have been spread throughout the world on a fool's errand, fighting an enemy we should be supporting. For almost a thousand years my ancestors watched men like him expand our group and count infidels within our ranks and I say enough!"

He grabbed her by the throat and shoved her against the window.

'He's insane... he is out of his fucking mind and I'm going to die right here.' Her mind raced frantically trying to think of some way to reason with him but the truth was she was frozen with fear. She had never even been mugged and now this madman with a gun had her pinned to the glass and he seemed to want to hold her responsible for all his grievances.

She swallowed but her throat felt rough and glassy, "I'm sorry I don't know anything about assassins or what they stand for I'm only here to report the news."

He grunted and threw her against the wall to her right, "My father believed in our order, he gave his life for it and how did they remember him? Altair spread malicious lies and rumours which to this day are still remembered. I hear them mocking me behind my back "Abbas the son of a coward" but I never let it show. I waited for the right time to strike to come, it was many years but that time is here and I will not be denied my chance to avenge him and clear his name."

"You can start now, I'm listening..."

"It's over Abbas come outside there is no reason for her to be harmed she is an innocent."

Altair was calling to them from the street but she couldn't see where he was. "We are all here Abbas your _brothers_. Waiting to hear how you can explain this act of betrayal. You have nowhere to go, end this now."

Maria wondered what had happened to the other man who had been with Abbas; she hadn't heard any more gunfire.

He sneered, "Altair ever reasonable and always willing to use the tenants of our creed to win an argument when it wasn't so long ago you broke them all in one day."

The next time he spoke he sounded closer and Maria knew the shit would be hitting the fan very soon. "It's me you want to talk to Abbas. Let her come out and I'll come in."

Abbas pulled Maria in front of him and took a few steps towards the door before he stopped and began whispering in a desperate tone into a walkie-talkie. Shoving Maria forward again he gloated, "He thinks he can beat me but I will win this day."

Realisation dawned in a heartbeat and Maria suddenly knew what he had said and who to. She broke free from Abbas and ran to the doorway screaming. "Altair run he has told them were we are!" She got one foot on the pavement before she felt a horrible burning pain in her back. Altair ran towards her but she was still trying to scream for him to run the other way. "He told them were you are get out of here now."

She saw Altair raise his gun as another bolt of pain seared into her left shoulder throwing her forward face first onto the ground. There was a sound above her and as she turned her head to Altair she saw other men run out after him, Kadar and Felix were among them. 'You need to go you are going to die.' But she couldn't speak she saw smoke from Altair's gun it seemed to rise above him in one slow puff and at the exact same moment the building behind them exploded covering them with bricks and glass.

Then the whole world seemed to be swallowed in a cloud of smoke.

She wasn't sure how much time had elapsed before she next opened her eyes but much later she would reason it couldn't have been too long because there were no soldiers in the street yet.

She lifted her head easily enough but the rest of her body screamed defiantly at her for the attempt she made to move it. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to her knees to survey the damage everything was the colour of dust and there was nothing to be seen but rubble and the smoke signalling the many small fires around the ground.

Then her eye caught something pinkish poking out from a below a pile of stones, panic almost claimed her when she realised she was probably looking at Felix; his wild formerly blonde hair had been stained by blood. Altair had been in front of him and Kadar behind but she could see neither man. She tried to crawl towards him but a voice stopped her.

"They are all dead. This is how it had to be, I did this to protect my brotherhood."

She faced him still on her knees and spoke in a low croaky voice, through a throat choked with dust. "Abbas you killed them all why would you do that?"

He took a few steps to her and she saw he had blood on his shirt from a chest wound; Altair's bullet must have hit the mark. "I protected them. From here we will rebuild and be what we were meant to be and no one will ever know of the part I played."

He stopped at her feet and pulled his handgun from its holster, "I am sorry you got messed up in this but in the end you have only yourself to blame."

She scrambled backwards in the dust trying to gain a footing to get up but her hands got stuck behind her leg and she fell onto her back. Then she felt something in her back pocket, something Altair had been teasing her about earlier...

"_It's a throwing knife Maria, the reason it has no grip is to keep it light all its power comes from how you throw it."_

She drew it slowly from her pocket as Abbas raised his gun and pointed it at her head. He never considered this woman would have a weapon let alone know how to wield it and while the last part was true she was determined to at least try.

She adjusted it in her hand so she held the blade in her fingers gradually freeing it from beneath her body. Abbas whispered something like "I'll pray for you." No more time for stealth it's was now or never. She swiftly pulled it from under her body feeling it slice across her hip as she did but not being aware of any real pain. His eyes went wide when he saw the knife then wider still after she released it.

His neck seemed to explode almost before the knife had left her hand but exhausted, bleeding and on the point of unconsciousness she dropped her head to the ground grateful for the air that managed to get past her spongy throat into her lungs. She could hear the sound of vehicles approaching and had just enough time to hope they were here to help before darkness engulfed her.

* * *

This was sort of depressing :(


	7. Chapter 7

Six weeks, she could hardly believe she had been home for that length of time. She had woken up in a hospital room in Damascus with Syrian officials and British embassy people crawling all over her. She told them some lame story about two men hijacking her car and taking her hostage and how when the shelling happened she almost got away but she had been caught in an explosion.

When the Syrian asked her about the bullet wounds she looked and was genuinely surprised, they told her she had been shot twice, at least that explained the pain in her shoulder. They grilled her for hours about her captors but she told them other than the two who took her from Damascus she never saw any faces before providing them with detailed descriptions of the man in the morgue and Farim.

In the end they concluded she had been shot trying to flee and what little information she could give them only backed up what they believed had happened. They seemed satisfied that the men who had been escaping the attack on Assad had indeed been in Masyaf, "At least we can be sure the guilty men paid with their lives." The older Syrian official had said before adding proudly, "Not one rebel was left alive in Masyaf by the end of that afternoon we had killed them all."

Within a week Maria had been flown home amid a blaze of publicity, Sky TV hailed their "returning heroine". Her bosses offered her a plum job in the newsroom but Maria asked them to give her some time off to consider it and recover. They had agreed and even set up once weekly counselling sessions to aid her but she knew they were pointless, she could never tell the woman sitting opposite her that the real reason she cried herself to sleep was her grief for the men who had fallen fighting for freedom.

She had escaped Syria on the back of a lie, a lie which she now had to adhere to without the slightest deviation. Unfortunately for her the tangled web she had weaved to avoid prosecution also prevented her sharing her pain or what she felt was the real story of Syria. Of the suffering she had seen but had allowed herself to deny, burying it deep inside her brain all in the name of self preservation and it was killing her.

She thought of Malik, hoping and praying they had done enough to conceal him from the army. She thought of Felix and Kadar, boys she barely knew but boys she had witnessed fighting to the death. Most of all she thought of Altair. She tried to be angry with him for using her but she couldn't. Remembering the look on his face before he kissed her... he had needed her as much as she needed him. Perhaps it was nothing more than comfort for him but for Maria it had been much more.

She could barely pass an hour without thinking about him; she would lie in bed aching for his touch and his beautiful scarred mouth. She thought of Adha too, wondering how much worse she must be suffering the loss of such a man, a man she –unlike Maria- was entitled to mourn. Six weeks and still she felt like she was in the wrong place with the wrong people living the wrong life.

She stood at the doors of the packed train facing out; she always preferred to avoid making eye contact with strangers in these situations. Having just completed another hour of "You must have been terrified, get it off your chest" chatter she was grateful to be heading home, to her sanctuary and her research.

She had begun researching the order Altair had spoken of the assassins but could find no real information relating to them beyond the 13th century. Yet she felt sure he had been connected to this faction in some way, perhaps part of a group trying to bring it back to life. They had fought mostly against Crusaders; Maria allowed herself a wry smile at how they would likely have been enemies back then the Christian and the Muslim...

Information about the Crusaders was a far easier to find and she was surprised to learn she lived close to what had been the Templar Knight's version of Masyaf, their spiritual home so to speak. The church had long been taken from the disbanded order but it still stood in London in the area which bore its name.

She glanced at the route map and realised her journey from Aldgate to South Kensington would pass right through Temple. Chastising herself for being so fanciful even as she got ready to disembark at Temple station she stepped on to the platform and made her way back out to the rain soaked streets of London.

She lit a cigarette and took a deep pull of the comforting poison into her lungs before popping open her umbrella and joining the heaving masses pounding the pavement in front of her. Navigating a path between puddles and people she made way to the arched gateway at the side of the church. She gave a cursory glance to the buildings beautiful exterior, she had seen this before many times; what she wanted to see was inside the circular chapel built to represent the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Passing through the Chancel even Maria had to stop to admire the detail of the place, it was breathtaking. She knew the Templar's had been a wealthy group, in the end that is what caused their downfall but still the church that wealth had built was something to behold. The stained glass windows depicted scenes from the Crusades of knights on steeds as well as the usual religious imagery. Her excitement grew as she took in the numerous reminders of why she was really here, the Crusaders... They had been in the Holy Land trying to defend –or impose- their religion and fought with the very men who had lived and trained in the castle at Masyaf.

Her footfall seemed to bounce back from the high vaulted ceiling and even though there were other tourists here she felt slightly ashamed for disturbing the undeniably calm atmosphere of the place with her heels clanking against the floor. Entering the round part of the church she held her breath as she took in the sight of the tombs scattered around the room. She stopped beside every one wondering what he had done or how he had died. She took a knee beside the tomb of William Marshal -the most famous of all Knights of that day- unaware that her expression had become sad.

A soft voice cut her musing short, "Are you alright dear?"

Her head snapped up suddenly, despite the gentle timbre of the voice it had taken her by surprise. "I'm fine thank you reverend." Offering him a genuine smile she rose from her position on the floor. "I was just thinking how sad it is that the Holy Land of his time is still so troubled in ours."

The minister nodded and tried to look sombre but his rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes didn't lend his attempt any support, "The Levant is the birthplace of our faith and as such holds a great place in our hearts but it has long been troubled because of this. Each religion striving to be dominant and I'm afraid our Crusades helped to create that divisive siege mentality which still prevails to this day."

"We want the rebels to win in the hope we have an ally in that part of the world but the truth is we are still afraid to help them because of who else may be hiding behind the rebels, we don't want a repeat of Afghanistan. As usual it's the ordinary people who suffer, bombs and bullets don't care if you are armed or not."

He stood closer to her while visibly resisting the urge to touch her, "I assumed you were here to better understand your own ordeal over there but you pity the people." When she raised her head questioningly at him he explained. "I saw you on TV and I confess your words surprise me, I wouldn't expect to hear sympathy for Syrian's from someone who suffered at the hands of men who claim to fight for their freedom."

Maria choked back a derisive laugh, "What I suffered was not at the hands of the people we should be helping. The people of Syria, the people I saw in Daraa had no guns. We arrived after the trouble but they showed us the damage, the injured being treated in private homes because the hospital refused to treat them. A huge rectangle had been dug up and I thought they were laying pipes or a foundation for a building, a hole so wide and lined with stones I honestly assumed it was a construction site until they started laying the bodies between the lines of stone."

This time he allowed his hand to rest on her shoulder, "Then I suggest your initial assumption was accurate, they were laying foundations of a sort, for a future in which they enjoy the freedom we take for granted. That would be a most fitting epitaph for the fallen."

The minister invited her to stay and chat but it was already late in the afternoon and Maria had plans for the evening. She left the church behind disappointed and unsure why. She hadn't gone there expecting a revelation, she had arrived at the church trying to strengthen the tenuous connection she had with Altair but in the end all she felt was hopelessness creeping deeper into her thoughts.

She walked down towards Victoria Embankment but decided not to get on the Tube, it had stopped raining and she needed time to clear her head. The streets were alive with people jostling to get past each other but not really seeing them, so lost in their own thoughts. She knew it was perfectly possible to feel alone in a crowd but this wasn't really a crowd as she now understood the term. It was a pulsing mass of individuals together only because their lives had crossed paths in that moment. In Syria the crowds had been together, knowing full well they were in danger of being fired on yet still they met a singular collective of hopes and dreams all driven by the same goals.

As she passed Waterloo Bridge she heard a man's voice calling out to the people but nobody was listening, he was telling them that they needed to let God into their life before it was too late. Maria stopped to listen for a few seconds before he noticed her and eagerly engaged his unexpected audience. "There have been signs, war, famine and plagues. He will come for his children soon but will you be ready?" She blinked rain drops that she hadn't noticed falling out of her eyes but said nothing. Raising his plastic covered bible to her he said, "This is the key to your salvation, this is his word and here you will find truth."

"Nothing is true."

Shocked that she had spoken he stepped towards her, "What did you say?"

She was crying but the tears soaking her cheeks mingled with the rain and both still went unnoticed by her. "We believe one thing, they believe another. We can't all be right can we? Until we open our minds to the possibility that nothing we think we know is true and look with fresh eyes at the world we will never move forward. There may be great truth just waiting for us to be ready to accept it perhaps the next step in our evolution but we won't look for it."

He had moved away from her muttering about her being a "nut-case" but she was no longer listening to him. She had already begun making her way to the next station.

'You let them down Maria, you helped so far but when it came to putting your own neck on the block you bottled it, accept it and get on with your life.' She once more made her way among the throngs of her fellow man trying to focus her mind on her real life. Syria was behind her, he was dead and even if he had survived he was married and she had to have dinner at her parents' house in less than 4 hours, 'Get with the programme Maria you can't waste your life worrying about other people's problems.' But Syria, Altair and Malik had changed her and she knew it she just didn't know what to do about it.

* * *

She got out of the taxi and took a deep breath, setting her feet on the bottom step which led to the home of her childhood, 'This is going to be a long night.' The door opened before she got half way up and her mother greeted her, "I was sure you would be late, come in out of the rain before you ruin your hair."

Surprised that her mother had opened the door and that she was being so friendly Maria went inside and felt suspicion begin to gnaw at her.

They were of course eating in the dining room but Maria never bothered taking in the sumptuous décor, she had seen it before many times what she did notice was a man sitting on her father's left side and that the table was only set for four.

Richard Thorpe stood up to greet her, "Ah Maria how lovely you look but you are still so thin. Martha's cooking will help with that." He gestured to the man now standing at the table, "This is James Turner, he is the newest member of the board at the bank and an American but we won't hold that against him."

Chuckling awkwardly at her father's weak attempt to break the ice she stretched out her hand, "Pleasure to meet you Mr Turner"

He took her hand but his fingers slid along hers slowly, she froze almost sure he was going to raise it to his lips but he gave it a gentle squeeze, "The pleasure is mine Miss Thorpe, please call me James and if it's not to bold I'll call you Maria."

"Of course please do. How are you finding London James?"

He smiled as he retook his seat, "London keeps getting better and better."

At least now she knew the reason for her mother's unusual behaviour; they were match making and Maria had to admit that 6 months ago this man would have been met by her approval. His voice was smooth as silk, she could only guess at the number of women he had charmed with his dulcet tones. But that made of think of Altair and how she would bubble inside when he said her name. The first few courses passed with the usual dinner chatter with Maria adding a voice when she felt it appropriate but not offering much else. When James brought up the subject of having watched some of Maria's broadcasts on youtube her mother responded for her.

"I'll be honest with you James I would be happier if Maria would find a new line of work, or even take the job she has been offered in the studio. One does not wish to see one's child thrown into dangerous situations needlessly."

"I would hardly call reporting the news needless Mrs Thorpe."

Amelia Thorpe bristled but recovered quickly, 'Careful Mother you nearly let the real you show.' Maria thought.

"It's all bad news and these people always seem to have some war or other going on. We should leave them to it until they decide to join us in the 21st century." She lifted her desert fork and poked at her plate clearly annoyed. "She was there trying to help them and look how they repaid her! She had a punctured lung and her shoulder will never be the same."

"I wasn't there to help I was there to capture human tragedy in all its glory."

"Nonsense Maria, how can we help people if we don't know what they need? You were helping and they endangered you. One has to assume they learned of your prominent Father and saw pound signs but thankfully she comes from good British stock and escaped."

Maria dropped her napkin to the table but her father saw the anger flash in her eyes and tried to avert her outburst. "This is not proper conversation for the dinner table, what say you we change the subject?"

"Yes Father let's do. God forbid we should have our appetite spoiled by thinking of such trivial things as war."

"Nobody suggested it was trivial Maria I just think it would be best to let you talk to your counsellor about those things."

"Yes, yes Father. Maria and her messy experience, leave it to the professionals eh? You don't care what I went through you just want it to be over so I can get married and have sons to carry on your name, hyphens and all. I should inform you that what I went through was nothing compared to what they are suffering. I'm like you, too weak and self absorbed to make a stand against the evils I saw."

She looked across at James but he was doing the right thing and showing his desert a lot more attention than it merited. "We pretend to care but we don't. Drop a few coins into a charity box, bid at an auction to feed children in Africa. We want the Middle East to go away because it's a can of worms that could explode in our faces. Who wants to help another Taliban take control or help Al Qaeda gain power in another country? I can promise you this, the people of Syria don't want that either, they are not extremists who want to blow us to Kingdom come they are people who want basic human rights and are being killed for it. We stand aside unwilling to aid them for fear of what will replace their current leaders."

"That's enough Maria!" The legs of his chair scrapped along the parquet flooring as he suddenly got to his feet. "We are trying to be reasonable but you are upsetting your Mother and making our guest uncomfortable, bad form Maria bad form indeed."

She wasn't done, she was far from over voicing her feelings but she knew if she kept going she would blurt out more than she should. She swallowed hard wincing at how painful it was to taste the shame in her unspoken words. "I apologise, perhaps it is too soon for me be doing this sort of thing." Gesturing to the table, "My histrionics were not, I'm sure, on the menu. Please excuse me I'm going to take a taxi home."

She left the room as quickly as she could but her path to the front door was suddenly halted by a hand on her arm, "I'm sorry Maria; they can't hope to comprehend what you witnessed. I spent some time in the Congo and I have a better idea of how hard it can be to readjust to normal life. Let me escort you home I don't want us to part like this."

They took a cab to her home and Maria got out thinking he would stay inside but he joined her on the pavement. "I really do think you would benefit from sharing your experience with someone who knows a bit more about what it's like to be in a conflict zone."

"Oh yes the Congo you said. Can I ask what a future banker was doing over there?"

He chuckled "I wasn't always a future banker I used to have a soul you know." He stopped at her street door, "I was and still am volunteering for an organisation that is committed to world peace we send envoys to places in difficulties and try to offer assistance."

"That sounds very worthwhile." She knew it was half hearted at best but her head was beginning to thump, she wanted painkillers and to collapse into bed.

"I can see you're tired I'll let you get inside, it was a pleasure to meet you Maria." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

She actually managed to chuckle, "A real delight I'm sure. I'm sorry about my behaviour tonight my parents never warned me it was going to be anyone but us there. I suppose I'm not ready to be sociable yet."

He smiled and gave her a "What can you do look" which surprisingly made her feel better. "Oh hey, I've been invited to my boss's party this weekend you don't fancy being my plus one do you?"

As apologetically as possible she declined and he nodded graciously, "Yeah I know not ready yet but still I had to ask. I've been in town less than a month and you're the only woman I know. I'll just have to be Han Solo for the night."

Her bleeding heart couldn't handle any more holes right now so she semi caved, "Okay look if you are still stuck call me at the end of the week, you never know I might be up for it but don't get your hopes up I won't be good company."

* * *

On the morning of the dreaded party she flew out of bed running at top speed for the bathroom, her hand covering her mouth. She got to the bowl just in time and sat there for the next ten minutes throwing up or leaning against it trying to recover for the next explosion. Finally convinced it was over she spent the next few minutes gargling and brushing. She had felt this coming on last night; her dinner hadn't smelt right and tasted worse. "Great a stomach bug just to top off a wonderful couple of months." Deciding not to cancel on James unless she really had to she wandered around her flat until it was time to go to the salon.

He met her on the stairs and she had to admit to feeling gratified at the look on his face, "Wow Maria you look awesome."

She had dressed with care, self conscious about the two new scars on her back and wary of giving James the wrong impression. She wore a simple mid-length black dress but her hair was swept up in dressy up-do.

'Awesome' wasn't one of her favourite words but you can't have everything. "You don't look half bad yourself."

He took her hand and led her to the street. "Our car is at the end of the road, these narrow streets don't accommodate a limo. Surprising when you consider how fancy this area is."

The street as usual was lined with cars on either side, Maria would have had no trouble in her mini but then it was a mini and not a limo. "It wasn't built with limo's in mind I'm afraid."

He scoffed, "You can say that again everything in this city is old."

They had been driving for about ten minutes before Maria felt her mouth begin to fill with saliva, she tried to swallow it down but the nausea pushed it back up. She gagged and knew the agony was coming. Reaching for the only thing she could see she threw up in the ice bucket. The driver pulled the car over while James patted her back and poured her some water.

When she could at last speak she apologised, "Oh God this is so embarrassing. I've been doing it all day but I got some pills from the chemist and hoped it would stop."

"You should have told me you were sick Maria."

"I didn't want to seem to be blowing you off considering I wasn't so into going anyway."

He told the driver to return to her home and all the way there she apologised and he told her there was no need. He helped her out of the car and took the bucket from her handing it to the driver holding the door. Maria was overwhelmed with pity for the man she reached into her purse and pulled out some money hidden with tissues, and shaking his hand to apologise she slipped the notes unseen into his palm.

James called his boss and told him he wouldn't be there despite Maria's insistence that he go on he refused. They spent the next few hours chatting on the sofa, him taking a break to "Whip up some sandwiches" which only he ate. Initially she had wanted him to leave but as the night wore on she grew more and more relaxed in his company and for the first time in months she enjoyed a few hours without any feelings of guilt or loneliness.

A little after 11 her nausea paid another visit and to his credit he stayed to make sure she was okay before leaving to let her rest. Alone in her bed her thoughts soon drifted back to the man she had spent that wonderful night with in Masyaf but he was gone and no matter how much she missed him she couldn't bring him back. She didn't feel a spark with James but maybe it would be okay to allow herself to be distracted from her problems for a while.

* * *

She saw him twice over the next week and each time she did she liked him more. He never made any inappropriate advances and that undoubtedly helped her to settle into an easy friendship with him. Returning from a Saturday morning trip to help him pick up a few things for his new flat, where she had made a stop off at the chemist for "feminine things" he dropped her off at home telling her he'd be back around 8 that night to pick her up.

She kicked off her shoes and took the pregnancy test from the bag, puffing out air as she said, "No more wondering girl it's time to get some answers." She took a disposable cup from the pack she had bought and made her way to the bathroom. Dipping the indicator into the cup of urine she timed it with military precision before laying it flat on the toilet seat then she watched and waited. The test advised her to walk around and not sit watching for the result to appear but that was just insane, there was no way she wasn't going to be right there when it appeared it meant too much.

The egg timer on the display flashed happily away while Maria thought of the consequences of a simple pee. She had unprotected sex with Altair yet the idea of being pregnant took the better part of a week of Linda Blair grade vomiting for her to seriously consider the possibility. The most random pointless thoughts raced through her brain, 'He's dead there is no way I can be pregnant.' Then she wondered if he had other children with Adha, not that it mattered but still she did wonder.

The small display changed and she sat there for a few seconds before it gave her more information.

Pregnant 3+

'I'm pregnant to a dead man who also happened to be married.'

She wanted to tell someone but who could she tell? She was a riot of excited nerves but there wasn't a single person she could think of to share this news with. She wanted to tell Altair, wanted to see how he would have reacted to the news. Most of the married men she knew would be horrified if a fling resulted in a child probably offering to arrange an abortion before asking how the woman felt but she knew in her heart Altair would not have been like that but that might be wishful thinking. The way she saw it he was the father of her unborn child and she could imagine him any damn way she pleased.

She wandered into her bedroom and lay on top of the covers the excitement was beginning to give way to anxiety, she began to think of her parent's reaction the news honestly unsure how they would feel about a mixed race grandchild, they weren't racists but they were not the most open minded people either.

'There is an actual tiny human being inside me.'

One thing she was sure of the child would be forever grateful to her if it was born with his eyes.

She put on her PJ's, made some tea and fired up the laptop then lit a cigarette without thinking and got half way through it before she thought of what was in her womb. Stubbing it out, she tossed them into the waste basket. "No more fags for me for at least 7 months."

She had emails from yesterday which she had to reply to one from Graham and a couple from her friend Ruby. She dealt with those and checked the junk before trashing its contents but something caught her eye; it was from Damascus Blacksmith. She scanned the rest of the folder and there was another one from the same address from the previous day, she opened the older one first certain it was junk relating to her searches but as she read it she popped up from the couch still clutching the laptop.

Dear Miss Thorpe

On a recent visit to Dimashq you made an enquiry to a colleague of mine about a certain antique blade. I am pleased to inform you that the item is now in stock. Due to the rare nature of the piece I am unable to hold it for more than 2 days. Please respond to this correspondence immediately and we can begin our negotiations.

Regards

Rashid Abdul.

Malik! It had to be that was the name they had used in the hospital; he was trying to contact her. She went back to the junk folder and opened the second email.

Dear Miss Thorpe

My initial email has gone unanswered and I feel I must request you contact me URGENTLY. There is another party in London very interested in the blade. You showed a great interest in it and we would be sorry to see you miss out. You are in real DANGER of losing this, contact me immediately please.

**00** **963 214329526 I have included international dialling codes call me now!**

Rashid Abdul

"Fuck! What is going on?" Grabbing her phone she dialled the number and paced around the floor waiting for it to be answered. A man spoke in a gruff Arabic voice but Maria took her chances. "This is Maria Thorpe returning a call to Rashid Abdul."

He spoke again in Arabic; she tried something simpler "Rashid Abdul?"

"No Rashid Abdul." Then the line went dead.

She redialled carefully but the result was the same, no Rashid. Close to panic now she returned to the laptop and replied to the email

Dear Mr Abdul

Thank you so much for contacting me, forgive my late reply. I am very interested in procuring the blade you speak of and tried to call the number you provided but there is nobody there of that name. Perhaps you gave me the wrong number? If there is a rival bidder in London please let me know and I can take steps to make sure I am not caught out.

Maria Thorpe

Over the next few hours she must have refreshed her page a thousand times but no new mail. She re-read it over and over and slowly began to convince herself that he only wanted to make sure she was okay. She had panicked at his emphasis of certain words but maybe he was doing that to make her reply fast or maybe he was in danger and needed help from her. She hadn't called James to cancel their plans so he would be here in less than an hour. She stood in front of her wardrobe picking what to wear but still thinking about Malik, the knowledge he was alive if not safe offered her no end of relief. If she got to talk to him would she tell him she was carrying Altair's child? It still felt unreal to her but those words did something incredible to her heart,Altair's child...

With her hand unconsciously cradling her stomach a soft smile crept onto her face. She realised that she hadn't even considered having an abortion; she was going to be a mother.

* * *

I had no intentions of making this story any longer but demisses made a good case for going on with it, helping me figure out some plot lines and advising me about some of the content so a big thank you to demisses for all the help :3

I went to Temple to visit the church in this chapter. It's called Temple church and it really is loaded with Templar references :D


	8. Chapter 8

They sat in a quiet corner of the restaurant, James had booked them at table at a far more upmarket place but Maria had suggested they come here instead. It was a small family run business but Maria loved the food and the atmosphere of the place. It was usually quieter despite the fact that Gennaro served some of the best Italian food she had eaten in her life and tonight that was exactly what Maria needed, peace and quiet. Had she remembered in time she would have cancelled the dinner and stayed at home but she had other things on her mind that afternoon and so here she was.

He looked across the table at her fingering the brilliant white table cloth, "You've been quiet Maria are you still feeling sick?"

She drew her hands under her chin and considered her options. James was a man she hardly knew but she liked him well enough maybe this was as good a place as any to break the news of her baby. "I think I'm going to be sick for a while yet James. I googled it and the morning sickness can go on as late as 16 weeks even longer in some cases. Although quite why they call it morning sickness I don't know, I throw up at the drop of a hat regardless of what time of day it is." She was waffling but her nerves were getting the better of her.

His mouth dropped open making her want to reach over and pop it shut again. "Morning sickness, are you for real? You're pregnant?" His mouth closed of its own accord becoming a thin disapproving line across the bottom of his face.

Was he angry? He certainly seemed to be at the very least annoyed and Maria was at a loss to understand why. "Yes I am but I had no idea I was until this afternoon. The test said 3 plus and that means more than 3 weeks since conception but I have no real idea what that means I'm sure it was conceived 7 weeks ago but does that mean I'm 7 weeks pregnant I really don't know"

"But you were in Syria at that time."

"Yes I know I was."

"Did you meet a fellow journalist?"

"No the father is a Syrian." She almost said "the father was Syrian" but she didn't like the tone he was using with her and she felt an abrupt end to this conversation would be in order and wanted to give him no further information.

"Was it one of the men who took you from Damascus, where you raped Maria?"

She could see why he would assume that but it still annoyed her that he was being so blunt with her. "I'm not going to discuss that with you James. My private life is none of your concern. I came here tonight out of common courtesy but I have no intention of letting you overstep the bounds of our friendship."

Her feet shifted under the table as she prepared to stand up, "I should have gone with my first instinct and cancelled our plans over the phone. I'm sorry if you had the wrong idea about us but I never gave you any reason to think we would be more than friends. I was trying to help you adjust to a new country and we both knew that."

She left, looking apologetically at Gennaro as she passed him mumbling something about feeling unwell. James came down the street calling after her but she never stopped, she hailed a cab and never looked at him until she was driving past him looking furious by the side of the road.

Her dander was well and truly up so she decided to face another fear while she felt ready to handle it, calling her parents to check they were home she redirected the driver to their house in Mayfair. As was much more common Terrence opened the door and bid her a warm welcome, he had been her father's butler for a long as Maria could remember and was always a nice presence around the house.

"Good evening Terrence are my parent's in the drawing room?"

"They are indeed Maria and awaiting your arrival. Shall I have cook prepare something for you?"

She grinned "I don't think I'll be here long enough to take off my coat never mind eat but thank you just the same."

He bowed his face remaining blank but she knew he had his butler head on; he would go downstairs and tell Martha that Maria was here and causing more upheaval as soon as she was out of sight.

Her parents were sitting in the largest of the entertaining rooms, her mother was seated beside the window and her father was in his huge leather chair by the open fire. She wondered when the last time they did something unexpected was but knew it was too long ago to matter. He folded his newspaper onto his lap as she took a seat at the piano. She had spent hours in front of this beast in her childhood and she had become competent but that was all. Ms Jackson her instructor would despair with Maria's lapses in attention but Maria knew she would never be better than okay so her heart had never been in it.

The anger which had fuelled her courage in the taxi had subsided and all that was left now was a desire to get it over with. Her mother moved from the window to sit on the sofa so she could look her daughter in the face no doubt. 'Oh well you wanted their attention and the floor is yours.' A lifetime of failing to meet their expectations and of being told she wasn't achieving all they had hoped had left her a little self conscious around these two. She wasn't afraid of them but she did dread the idea of that one thing she would do that would utterly destroy the tiny shred of love they had for her and this might well be it.

"I have to tell you both something and before I begin I have to say I didn't do this to hurt you or to rebel, I didn't mean to do it at all."

Richard sat forward in his chair no doubt trying to make himself look bigger she thought bitterly. "Well don't keep us in suspense Maria what drama have you gotten yourself mixed up in now?"

Her lungs were screaming at her to smoke and for the first time in hours she wished she had kept them handy. "I'm pregnant. It wasn't planned and I've had one serious relationship in my whole life so I didn't see the need to be on contraception." Probably not the best way to say it but she needed this over fast so she could out and buy some fags.

They looked from her to each other and Maria pressed down on the C flat waiting to see who would serve the opening salvo. "I see and is there any other information you feel might be pertinent to share with us?" She looked up at her mother but offered nothing. "For example who is the father and what are his intentions?"

It might have been a case of too much oxygen getting to her brain or contrary wise not enough nicotine but Maria decided to be honest with them. "It happened in Syria but to tell you about the father I would have to tell you the truth of my time there and you might like this even less than you liked my other news."

She got up from the piano stool and sat on the other end of the couch from her mother. "I wasn't kidnapped I helped them escape. I spent the next two days with them before we were betrayed to government forces and shelled. It was the man who betrayed them who shot me while I was trying to warn them to escape. The father was killed in that attack his name was Altair and he is unlike any man I've ever met in my life."

Their shocked stares should have stopped her but they didn't, "I'm keeping the child because I want to be its mother. I only knew its father for two days and in that time I felt more for him than I have ever felt for any human being. He was not a terrorist he was a good man who died for what he believed in and I miss him every single day. I want to go back there it felt like home to me but I lied to escape punishment and can't ever go back."

Her father stood up and paced in front of the fire while her mother budged as though she was going to move closer to her but Richard's voice stopped her. "You realise what you are saying don't you?" She knew he had much more to say and that no answer was expected so she let him continue. "This isn't you being expelled from school for spray painting the 300 year old statue Maria I can't fix this for you. You are going to have to be a brave soldier and get this sorted out."

"Sorted out?"

"Don't be obtuse girl you know damn well what I'm saying."

"I'm having the child Father."

He moved towards her and she stood to meet him. "You will not defy me. That flat you live in was my Mother's do you think I'm going to let you raise your little terrorist's bastard in her home?"

"She left the place in Kensington to me not you but you can have it and you are welcome to it. How dare you assume you can control me with your money you couldn't when I was 14 what the fuck makes you think I'd let you do it now."

His hand smacking off her cheek stopped her stream of words but lifted her head to his and continued, "I wanted you to be happy for me. Why can't you do that?"

Her mother stood between them and guided her to the door and when her father went to speak Amelia told him to be quiet. She took her into the hallway and for the first time in years she embraced her daughter. "I'm sorry Maria I doubt I will be able to change his mind but don't you give him the house it's yours and I have some money of my own, you mustn't worry."

Maria held onto her mother tighter than she would ever have imagined, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because my daughter's heart is breaking and I know how that feels." Richard's voice cut into the conversation as he boomed for Terence to attend him.

Maria withdrew from her mother's arms albeit unwillingly "I should go, I'm sorry if I caused you trouble I never really meant to do that."

She was halfway down the stairs when a soft voice called her name, her mother stood in the open doorway. "Now more than ever you must stand your ground Maria. I have complete faith that you will be the mother I always hoped I would be."

She went back inside and closed the door leaving her daughter outside.

Amelia walked back to the drawing room and glared at her husband. "Do you think that was appropriate, have you forgotten we were unmarried when Maria was conceived?"

"We were engaged and I wasn't a bloody Arab terrorist, the circumstance don't compare."

She walked past him towards the drinks cabinet and poured herself a generous gin and tonic, "You have a point there Richard it seems Maria actually loved the man who impregnated her."

* * *

The two men renting a small room in a house across the street who had begun to think they had been wasting their time listening to the Thorpe's but in the space of half an hour it had become one of their most worthwhile assignments. Picking up the phone he called his superior, "The bug we put in the Thorpe's house has come up trumps. Maria was helping them in Syria and that's not even the best part ...she is pregnant to none other than Altair."

"We'll pick her up tonight and encourage her to share her information with us. Altair needs to learn of this pregnancy and soon. Finally we have something to use against that Syrian bastard."

"Intel suggests he was killed in the attack back in March boss."

The man on the other end of the phone grunted. "Fuck Intel my gut tells me he and the Al Sayf boys survived and we can use her to lure them out. If they are dead then we'll put her in an Animus and harvest the genetic information from the foetus either way she is valuable to us." He leaned back in his chair and let himself enjoy this unexpected bonus. "I'll send a team to get her tonight you boys stay there for a few more days; you never know who might try to contact her folks."

* * *

Maria took another taxi but stopped on the way home to pick up some cigarettes. She would stop soon but for now the added stress of nicotine deprivation was probably worse for the baby than her smoking. There was a man standing outside her building and even before he turned around she knew who it was.

"Well now look what the cat dragged in! To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

Graham grinned, "I wondered if I could talk you into joining me a couple of drinks."

"You show up unannounced on a Saturday night no less, can I assume your other plans suddenly developed good taste and ditched you?"

"Something like that. I think it may be time for me to start looking for a different type of woman Maria, I'm bored with my usual sort."

He took her arm as he led them across the road, "You can't mean cock-a-doodle-do is no longer chasing any-cock-will-do!"

His professionally whitened teeth flashed brilliantly in the twilight, "I wouldn't say never again but it might be time for me to hang up my spurs and give the younger men a chance." Stopping to get his bearings he asked, "Anywhere nearby we can enjoy a quiet drink? I mentioned in my email that I wanted us to talk but you dissed me."

"I know just the place but its not cheap so you better have your bank card mate, if you're talking then you're buying."

She found herself for the second time that night in a quiet corner but this time would be easier, Graham was here to talk about himself and that was just fine. She watched him waiting to be served and found herself comparing him to Altair. Graham was exactly the sort of man Maria would never fall for, all spray tan and aftershave. She remembered when Altair had carried her into the village and she was close enough to take in his scent -deep musky and entirely natural- had that been the beginning of her attraction to him?

Her fingers drummed on the highly polished surface of the small round table and she bit her lip. 'You have to stop doing this to yourself Maria.' But she knew it would be a long time before she could think of him and not feel loneliness and regret sting at her very core.

Graham sat opposite her placing her soft drink and his short on the table. "You weren't fucking kidding about the prices here, next time we go to a proper pub in Tooting." He slid her glass across to her, "Take your time with that girl I'm only a lowly cameraman; another round might put me in the poorhouse."

She took a sip and glanced around at the clientèle, all people she should feel completely at home with – young professionals with disposable income to prove it- but she was once more close to being overwhelmed by that feeling of not belonging. She wanted to go back to Syria, even if it meant being alone something about the people and that place had struck a chord within her.

"A penny for them."

"Oh sorry I was miles away."

He gave her a knowing look, "Syria?"

"How did you guess?"

"You were too green for that assignment Maria you should never have been sent. I'm not saying you are not going to be a great reporter, you have real potential and the camera loves you but maybe it was too soon."

A young man joined the woman at the next table. As he introduced himself he was fiddling with his Aston Martin key fob and the woman noticed at the same time as Maria, she clearly approved. 'Seduction by income, is that what we've become?'

"What was with the lies in Syria Maria? Ahmed told me you had fucked off with some guy then I learn you were kidnapped. Was Ahmed involved?"

She had this covered, no need to think fast. "I didn't have my phone anything sent from it was from the men who taken me. By the way thanks for not reporting Ahmed's dodgy claim for the car, he deserves a beamer just for putting up with our crap."

He shrugged, "It's not my money what do I care if Sky pays him a thousand times what his pile of shit was worth."

In the end all he wanted to do was to make sure she was okay and that surprised her no end. This perma-tanned poser had depth she never saw before, not much but more than she would have given him credit for. He walked her home after a couple of hours in the wine bar and Maria stopped him at the end of her road, "You better get a taxi from here you could wait hours for one to pass my house."

He looked and saw her building in the distance, "Okay so long as you'll be okay. Do the junkies in Kensington ask nicely before they take your bag?"

She chuckled, "The junkies in Kensington drive porches love."

He stepped forward awkwardly and placed his arms around her back, "I let you down in Damascus and I'm sorry."

'Fuck he blames himself for my alleged kidnapping.'

Regretting not being able to put him right she hugged him back, "It wasn't your fault don't blame yourself because I promise you I sure as hell don't hold you responsible."

They parted and she began walking the hundred or so yards to her house when she noticed a man crossing the street ahead of her. No alarm bells rang in her head when she saw him; she just kept walking at a steady pace. She heard a car door close behind her and footsteps coming up behind her, quickly. This did alarm her, no matter how nice the area that is the last thing a woman wants to hear at night.

She quickened her step only seconds from her door now when she felt a hand on her arm and another covered her mouth. "Scream and you will only make it worse come along quietly."

'FIGHT' that was her first and only instinct. Her brain screamed at her to resist, she knew worse would happen if he got her off the street. She pulled her body down and turned into his body clamping her teeth around his fingers. He struggled with her unexpected assault and she managed to break free. She lifted her knee to his groin and landed a good solid blow to his balls before turning to run but another hand grabbed her hair and tugged her backwards onto the ground.

He grabbed under her arms and hoisted her back to her feet but Maria wasn't done fighting, she grabbed for his face and dug her fingers into his eye sockets. The other guy recovered enough to take hold of her arms and pull her back, he lifted her off the ground and they both spun around from her attempts to free her arms. That is when she saw him moving toward them with unerring calm.

'He's alive!'

His arm moved past her head and she heard a thick wet fleshy sound behind her then the unpleasant feeling of what she guessed was blood covering the back of her neck. Altair pulled her out of the way as he turned his attention to the man holding his face. With one swipe of his arm she saw a jet of blood spray from his neck, it made a rainbow in the air between his neck and the pavement.

"There will be more of them we can't stay here." He took her arm and pulled her to a waiting car at the end of the street. Opening the back door he helped her bundle in before he moved to the driver's seat.

Reeling in a way she never thought was possible she looked around and saw Malik sitting on the back seat beside her. "Hello Maria it's nice to see you again but a question if I may? Why don't you answer your fucking emails?"

There was someone else in the front of the car but Maria's head was spinning and at that point couldn't have given her own name let alone form a coherent thought. "It's nice to see you too blacksmith."

* * *

Shorter than anticipated but it will be while before I can add to it so I'm posting what I have now. I never had time to edit this and I thought better to post a few mistakes than leave it weeks waiting for me to have a chance to fix it. Sorry but both this and Crescent and Cross won't be updated for a while, real life needs my full attention. Back when I can :)


	9. Chapter 9

She leaned back against the headrest and waited for her breathing to slow down. 'I've just been attacked and Altair is alive.' Her whole body began shaking and she felt the now familiar nausea begin to churn her insides.

"It's alright Maria you are safe now keep your eyes closed and breathe slowly."

It was Malik's voice but her nerve racked insides wouldn't let her calm down enough to reply. She raised her head and turned it toward him, a look somewhere between disbelief and shock on her face, "Fucking hell Malik what just happened?"

"Everything will be explained to you very soon but the important thing is we were in hiding when one of our moles informed us you were receiving attention from some very bad men. We located Ahmed but the phone number he had for you was no longer in use, all he had was an email address. We wanted to warn you to be careful until we got to you but it is most likely your communications were being monitored so we had to use code and hope you would understand."

Still stunned she looked from his face to her shaking hands, "That mobile was destroyed in Masyaf, I sort of did get that you were warning me but the number you gave me got me some grumpy old Arab who didn't know the name."

The young man in the front passenger seat turned his head to her and Maria saw a long thin scar, still fresh and angry, running from his ear to his neck. "Jabal! Malik I told you he would never have the sense to remember what you told him. He should be out tending goats not the safe house."

She grinned at the young man, "Glad to see you are alive and well Kadar I think you were under a house the last time I saw you."

He chuckled, "As am I glad to see you Maria; we were beginning to worry when you never replied to the emails."

"Junk mail swallowed them up, I was lucky to see them at all."

Altair hadn't spoken since he got into the car; he threw a glance over his shoulder at Malik, "What of the men in the van?"

"They were taken care of just as we discussed."

Maria looked horrified, "What van and taken care of how?"

Altair replied but he never took his eyes from the road. "The van which had been parked across from your house at least for the past two days, we can only guess if it was there longer."

She never asked him to go into details with the taken care of part of her question she could guess. "You do know this is Britain you can't just kill people and calmly walk away."

Malik raised his eyebrows and smirked, "Are you suggesting murder is legal in Syria?" She rolled her eyes but let her head drop back onto the headrest. "They would have done terrible things to you Maria purely for helping us surely you understand we couldn't let that happen?"

Her head flopped to the side to face him, "Of course I understand but I'm stunned. Things like this don't happen in real life you know? On top of that here you are, not two months after your arm was amputated. Should you have even flown?"

Kadar again leaned back in his seat beaming with pride, "He was out of hospital and reunited with us with a week of the surgery. He had a lot of medication but he coped well. Can I just say what a brilliant idea that was you had to switch his identity; the military did check the hospital for gunshot victims."

"We can continue this discussion inside we have arrived."

Maria tried to see where it was Altair was declaring as their destination then she saw it, a three storey wreck of a building with crumbling masonry and flaking paint. "You're kidding me?"

Altair looked directly at her for the first time since they had gotten into the car "We could hardly book into the Savoy; this place is fine we will only be here for one night two at the most."

Malik leaned over and spoke directly into her ear, "The cockroaches certainly seem fond of the place."

"I would have guessed it was the cockroaches running the place." She looked at Kadar coming around the front of the car, "You slept here last night?"

"No we arrived this morning and dropped off our bags before leaving to find you."

Altair faced the three of them with growing annoyance, "We need to keep a low profile and this fits our needs."

Maria walked in front of him, "Let's just get inside before anyone else sees us."

"You are safe for now Maria you need not concern yourself tonight."

"Never mind the bloody bad guys whoever they are! I'm more worried about people driving past thinking I'm a prostitute taking three Arabs into a seedy hotel room."

Malik grinned, Kadar blushed and Altair rolled his eyes but all three followed her inside. She was led up a dingy and dark stair case to a yellow door, probably at one time in its life it had been white but those days were long gone. Altair opened it and Maria stuck a head inside. She saw the look on his face and decided not to complain considering she was alive and in a position to complain it may have seemed petty.

The green carpet was heavily stained and held together with black tape in places and the only dressing on the window was an old net curtain which hadn't seen the inside of a washing machine for a while. "At least it matches the paint work."

"This is your room, there were only 2 rooms available but we are just down the hall." She stepped inside and when her sandal stuck to the carpet she looked pleadingly at Malik. "Does low profile really have to mean vile?"

He took her by the sleeve and led her along the hall, "Our room isn't as bad as this. We can cosy in together and find something better tomorrow."

Their room, while not the Ritz at least had whole carpets and roller blinds on the window. There was a double and a single bed and a small table with a portable TV taking up most of its surface.

They talked for a while and Maria learned it had been another of Altair's bullets which had caused Abbas' neck to explode and not her throwing knife. An ambulance had arrived and he had instructed the driver to take her to Masyaf hospital, they had all found "Alternative care."

Kadar and Malik had done most of the talking with Altair sitting at the table giving his full attention to a laptop. He could barely look at her and Maria guessed he knew Malik had told her about his wife. She decided not to tell him about the baby it had been a one night stand nothing more and she was no home wrecker.

When she yawned Malik stood up from the bed he was sitting on, "You can have the small bed we can all fit on the double."

She looked at the bed he had just vacated and grimaced. Taking off her jacket she placed it over the pillow and decided she would lie on top of the blankets. Everyone except Altair got as comfortable as possible on the beds, "I really am relieved we got to you in time Maria; the idea of you being punished for helping us was not something I relished."

She smiled across the gloomy room at Malik and stretched. "Might have been nice of you to let me know sooner it hadn't been in vain but I suppose it all worked out in the end."

She lay looking at the cracked ceiling for a while wondering if now was the time to mention the story she had told to escape Syria unpunished. Malik pushing his brother's feet out of his face was enough of a clue they were still awake, "You know I really do feel bad about lying to the authorities in Syria but I was terrified of being tortured or something so I told them what they wanted to hear and got home to London instead of a Damascus prison. I know a lot of people died that day and I don't want to seem like it didn't matter to me because it did more than I would have guessed in fact."

Kadar sat bolt upright in the bed his grin bright enough to be seen in the murky light of the room. "Maria it was brilliant what you said, there is no way we wanted you to tell the truth that lie was safer for you and us. When we saw you on state T.V you looked so pale and alone. Knowing you were back in the bosom of your family made our own recovery easier. Altair checked on your progress many times a day, looking for any sign of a move being made against you."

Maria mumbled a quiet response, not trusting herself to speak because his name being mentioned to make him seem so caring had her temper spiking.

'Oh fuck quiet he needs to hear this.'

"Well if you were so fucking concerned with my safety why not just email me sooner and tell me to be on the lookout? On top of that why leave me thinking you were all dead! Those men at the hospital said you were all killed that day and considering the amount of destruction it wasn't a huge stretch to believe them."

Altair finally lifted his head out of the laptop, "Come we will go to the other room to discuss this. Malik has been having trouble sleeping and he needs to be rested if we are to get home safely."

She swung her legs off the bed and followed him along the hall glaring at the back of his head. She needed to be careful how she played this she didn't want him to know how much he had hurt her and more especially what their fling had led to; she was going to have to keep her temper in check.

Once inside the dingy room he flicked on the light switch and his face twitched. "Malik was right it was a horrible idea staying in a rundown hotel but the Templars have eyes and ears everywhere and we must do all we can to stay off their radar." He moved to the small dresser by the window and lifted the chair from there to the bottom of the bed.

She sat on the bed pulling the skirt of her dress down and under her knees hating how dirty she imagined this bed was but glad not to be standing. "Are the Templars some sort of Syrian extremist group it seems an odd choice of name for them to take considering who the Templars were originally?"

He moved the chair under him and pulled it closer to her, Maria wished she could move further up the bed but that would be ridiculous. "They are the same group of men Maria this is a long story and it will take a lot of faith for you to believe it but I promise you everything I am going to tell you is true."

He spent the next half hour or so explaining to her that the group of knights from the Crusades had discovered a higher purpose, chasing something he called Pieces of Eden in order for them to gain dominion over the entire world. They had changed their name publicly after the order was decimated in the 14th century but had carried on in their efforts in secret and grown incredibly powerful through their endeavours in banking and commerce.

"And let me guess you are the remnants of the fabled assassins fighting nobly against such corrupt and powerful enemies?" She made no attempt to keep the contempt out of her voice, the fantastic tale he spun deserved nothing less. There was no way it was true but if he actually believed it to be so then she was carrying the child of a deluded fanatic.

His expression remained soft as his eyes remained fixed on hers. "You don't have to believe me now Maria there is plenty of time for you to learn the truth in my words. For now it is enough that you are safe and that we are reunited." One hand ran along the length of her thigh while the other cupped her cheek. "I could barely breathe thinking of you being in harm's way."

His face moved closer to hers and all she could think of were his eyes. The orange glow from the street light had caught his golden flecks and given them the appearance of what? An endless desert baking in the sun...

His mouth brushed against her lips and her entire body lunged forward to strengthen the connection. Her arms enveloped his neck as their kiss deepened the only sound in the world was their heartbeats, synchronised and keeping perfect time with the other. He pushed her back onto the bed and laid beside her his hands slowly beginning to explore her body.

Her mind was racing one incoherent thought ran into another making it impossible for her to grasp at a single one, his mouth and his hands, her love, his wife, belonging and how being with him felt so right. Finally one thought gained the upper hand, his wife...

"Get off me." She pushed him aside hating how the cool air invaded the fabric of her light dress and wondering why she hadn't felt so cold before.

She shifted from the bed and avoided his gaze as he apologised for rushing things.

"I'm sorry I should have taken into account how traumatic this has been for you, I can be inconsiderate."

He stood and took hold of her shoulder gently urging him to face her, "I endangered you and then I show up here hoping that what we had was not lost."

"What we had!" She spat the words at him as though they tasted foul in her mouth, "You left me to believe you were dead Altair. Yes this is the 21st century and a one night stand is fine but my God did it not occur to you that I was suffering believing you all to be dead? Would it have killed you to spare me a moment of your time to let me know you were okay?"

"Maria you were home and dry. I wanted to contact you a thousand times, to come to you but how could I do that? You were back in your old life. What right do I have to come after you and drag you back into my unstable and dangerous world?"

She wanted to tell him that his wife was the real reason he had kept her in the dark but that was a can of worms she wasn't ready to open. Her emotions were shredded and her mind was spinning. Even on a good day this man could run rings around her for her to have any chance of getting to the truth she needed a clear head and a steady heart.

"I'm tired I want to go to sleep we can finish your fantastic fairy tale tomorrow before I go home."

She brushed past him but he caught her hand stopping her but not forcing her back. "Was it really nothing more than a fleeting encounter to you Maria?"

She kept her back to him hoping she could keep the lie from her voice but knowing her face would betray her, "Had it not been for the carnage of that day I doubt I would even have remembered your name."

She felt him release her hand and she made her way to the other room and the safety of numbers. She passed a woman leading a plump middle aged man into the room between the two they were occupying and chuckled at how right she had been about this sordid little place of business. Malik and Kadar were both still awake bickering about space and Maria genuinely had to smile. These men had probably killed many times and yet here they were wrestling for more territory on a shabby mattress.

"Play nice children or I'll make you both stand in a corner." She lay back down on her coat fighting the urge to run back outside to Altair and tell him she had been dishonest about her feelings but this was the only way to handle this situation. She would not now or ever come between a man and his wife even if it meant breaking her own heart she refused to be _that_ woman.

Altair entered the room moments after and went back to his seat at the table. "I'll sleep here, I have much to do you two can have the bed."

Everything settled down and right on cue the prostitute in the next room began earning her money. Maria wanted to laugh at her comically exaggerated howls and moans but the men all seemed uncomfortable if the level of spontaneous coughing was anything to go by that is.

She was almost screaming now and by all accounts she was in bed with a plump middle aged sex god.

"Don't worry boys the only time you will hear such impassioned cries during sex are while listening to a prostitute or watching porn, woman never make those sounds for real." She saw Malik lift his head to her and she embellished, "I just don't want you leaving here with an inferiority complex is all." Reconsidering his expression she suggested an alternative for his look, "Or have I just shattered your own ego Mr Al Sayf? Did you once make a lady produce similar noises and now you have learned the truth of women and their wily faking ways?"

She saw the pillow come towards here but moved too late it caught her square on the face, laughing as she spoke she had one final dig at the handsome and far too self assured Arab, "Ah, I see I hit a nerve. Oh well never mind I'm sure she still had a lovely time with you."

Kadar's sudden gale of laughter earned him a swift boot to the arse and he landed on the floor beside the bed but laughed even harder. "Malik the stud..."

His laugh was contagious and soon both Maria and Malik joined him, the hilarity being interspersed with insults from one man to the other.

Maria saw Altair at the laptop but he wasn't laughing. She wondered if he was thinking about their encounter and thinking perhaps the sounds she had drawn from her had been fake, so much the better if he did think that it made her job easier.

Everyone in the room was asleep except Altair. He looked over at the woman in the single bed and felt a pang of regret. They had dragged her into a world she never knew existed and he had been foolish enough to believe she would love him enough to enter it willingly. She had proved him wrong there was no future for him and her but what he could do was to make her safe before he left. They would be staying in London far longer than they had planned but he would not leave her until he was certain there was no further threat to her even if it killed him.

* * *

I am writing a one shot for Trainspotting and have to admit this chapter was heavily influenced by the movie :)

Another short chapter but hey it's an update the ball is rolling once again, hope you enjoy!


	10. Chapter 10

Malik and Kadar had gone shopping for some breakfast things and grudgingly agreed to pick up something "casual" for Maria to change into. Her reasoning bested their grumbling protests in the end, "I have blood all over the back of my clothes I might attract some attention even in a run down area."

Altaïr was on the laptop this time looking for somewhere less "stomach churning" to stay and Maria was wandering from the bed to the window doing her best not to engage him in conversation. She saw a young woman walking down the street pushing a buggy with another toddler desperately clinging onto the frame because his mother needed her free hand to hold her phone to her ear. She wondered if she would ever forgo her child's hand for the sake of chatting to someone and came to the conclusion that she would not.

The idea of being a mother was never one she had given any serious thought to but now she knew there was a little something inside her she felt oddly attached to it. 'One day,' she glanced at her watch, 'Less than 24 hours ago I never knew it existed and now I feel like its most important little something in the world.'

Her eyes darted to the man half responsible for that gift, his fingers were bent over his mouth and his thumbs pressed into his cheeks as he scoured the To Let pages. He moved a hand to scratch his nose and she smiled before returning her attention to the street outside.

Altaïr had been sneaking sideways looks at her since they had been alone spending most of his time wondering why she was being so standoffish with him. Even in Syria when she had a bleeding Malik on her lap she hadn't been this cold. About to question her he stopped when he heard footsteps coming towards the room.

The door swung open and the brothers strolled in with Kadar bringing up the rear, "I hope you like pancakes Maria we bought loads of them."

Malik handed her a couple of plastic bags, "Clean clothes and toiletries."

"Thank you, I'll go get cleaned up before I eat you men under the table."

Her initial surprise that the communal shower was free was short lived; she couldn't imagine any two people in the world would ever want to use it. The curtain was hanging by its last few rings and if there was one single tile on the inside that wasn't cracked or coated in mildew then it would be a miracle. She lifted her dress over her head and angled her head to check her back in the soap stained mirror. There was no blood on her body only her coat and a small amount of her dress. Soaking part of the dress she had just removed she used it to roughly wash and then dry herself off.

She smiled when she opened the bag; they had bought her clean underwear as well as the basics for washing up. The bra was the wrong size but the knickers were fine. The dress was a cheap supermarket sun dress; they had tried to buy something similar to what she had been wearing. "I wonder if I should tell them I almost never wear dresses." Chuckling she left the bathroom and made her way back to their room.

* * *

"How long have you known the man you have been spending so much time with?"

She reached for a pancake and considered whether or not to have syrup, best not too... "I met him a couple of weeks ago he works at the same bank as my father why?"

"We know his name and his history but we can't find any information linking him to the Templars but that doesn't mean he isn't it just means he haven't learned of him yet."

"Come on Malik not you as well!" She dropped the pancake she had just bitten into not liking how much it felt like chewing cardboard. "This is ridiculous. James works in a bank he is not linked to any clandestine group or anything else sordid you can think of. The guy is a total sweet heart."

Malik's chuckle might not have been the smuggest thing she had heard in a long while but his look was unquestionably the most patronising. "Maria you were almost kidnapped don't tell me you are going to make us go through the whole routine of convincing the silly city girl she is in real danger."

"Danger yes from some government agency but come on thousand year old knights with a plan to take over the world with some fantasy relics. They don't need that shit, just a good burger and half way decent TV show and they would have more followers than the Moonies."

"Good you are familiar with the group although it's the battle which is over a thousand years old the knights themselves died Maria."

She was beginning to doubt their sanity; either that or they were taking piss. Her cheeks reddened and her eyes narrowed, "Yeah yeah I saw the tombs Malik I was being sarcastic but my point is valid."

He raised a questioning eyebrow amused by her sudden burst of temper, "Which point would that be Maria?"

Her hand flew to her mouth and her eyes became two perfect circles of panic as she bolted for the door. She made it a few steps into the hallway before her bodies need to eject the offending pancakes defeated her ego's desire for privacy... she covered the floor and the wall with disgusting vomit.

She knew he was behind her without having to see him there and continued toward the toilet slamming the door behind her. She came out a few minutes later and saw the mess was still there but the men's luggage was in front of it.

"You look like crap Maria." Kadar smiled sympathetically as he took her arm, "Let's go we are moving to a better place."

"Shouldn't I clean that up?"

"And deprive the local insects of a good meal! Leave it Maria they got paid for a week they can take that as compensation."

"I want to go home."

His sympathetic smile became a hug, "For now you can't but hopefully soon."

* * *

On the way to their new digs she had them stop outside a row of shops, "If I can't go home there are things I need to buy."

She wandered around a woman's clothes shop picking up bits and pieces and after a few moments went to the checkout to pay. Altaïr stepped forward from God knows where and offered the cashier his card and Maria a smile, "I'll get this darling."

The one time she actually wanted to vomit her body betrayed her; the cashier looked from her to Altaïr and back again although her appreciative look only extended to the man by her side. 'Silly cow is jealous, well let her have him and she can have all the fucking misery that comes with him.'

While he keyed in the pin number Maria looked around at the dingy little shop, she shouldn't complain really they had the basics but my God would it kill them to turn the AC on? By the time she turned back round the assistant had not only fixed her hair but was taking her sweet time handing the card over, commenting on what a beautiful accent her "husband" had. Maria actually laughed out loud at the boldness of the bitch.

"I'm sorry to interrupt darling but we've left Malik and Kadar alone the car far too long already, heaven knows what mischief they'll have gotten into. I can finish here you go see to your sons." She kissed his cheek and patted his arse when he walked away smiling sweetly at the look he tossed back at her before turning her attention back to the sales girl, "Arabs honestly... I seem to spend all my time either looking after our sons or fending off his efforts to make more."

She got back into the car and slumped into the back seat beside Kadar, "What the hell was that I can pay for my own things you trumped up tin pot general!"

Malik turned to her looking for the first time like he was running out of patience, "If you used your own card you would have left a trail for them to follow therefore it's wiser to use one we have acquired wouldn't you agree?"

A grudging "I suppose..." were the only words Maria spoke until she was shown into her new room. She spent the remainder of the journey watching the people on the pavements as they passed them by.

* * *

"I'm sorry for snapping at you in the car."

She dropped her bags onto the bed and turned to the young man standing in the doorway. "No, don't be Malik I was stupidly reacting to him being a wanker and not thinking about the circumstances but in my defence I've never been on the run before so I'm going to make mistakes." She moved closer to him and saw how pale his skin was, "Hey you go get some sleep I'll stay here and watch TV all night, scouts honour."

She had a shower and changed into the clean nightdress she had bought before switching on the TV and settling back on her comfortable and clean bed. This room was generic and a bit purple for her personal taste but right now it felt like she was in the lap of luxury. She began watching some old movie that was already playing but fell asleep within minutes.

Shouting... She sprang up from the pillows and looked around to get her bearings. What the hell was that? She moved to window and was surprised to see it getting dark outside. Then more shouting and this time she heard enough to know where it came from and who it was.

"Kadar what the fuck is going on! What are they fighting about?"

She had ran into their room to find Kadar calmly sitting on the sofa while Altaïr and Malik stood toe to toe looking ready to rip each other's head off.

The young man smirked and sat upright, "They fight all the time one of them will win and it will end best to stay out of it. Oh they are fighting about you, Altaïr wants to stay and help make London safe for you Malik thinks that is impossible and our only option is to take you to Syria."

"They are fighting about me, my future?" She glanced at him and decided to ignore his twinkling eyes turning her fury instead to the cock fight in the middle of the room. She marched up to them and spoke calmly but they talked over her. She tried again a little louder but still no response, "Fuck you both I'm not staying here to listen to this crap I'd be better off alone!"

That did it. Both men turned their angry gazes to her, Maria flinched from their scrutiny but only a fraction... "You were alone Maria and on the verge of being dragged into a waiting van."

"So that's how it is. You save me from God knows what and now you have the right to decide what happens to me in my life? Well let me remind you both I saved your arses first! If not for me you would have been found in Damascus and then well who knows what would have happened..."

Altaïr stared at her and as his eyes dragged down the length of her body she saw heat in his gaze, without looking down she realised what he was seeing, her almost identical to how she had been that night he had come to her room in Masyaf even down to the damp hair! He brought his blazing eyes back to hers and her insides folded like paper; she swallowed hard and forced herself to take a step closer to them.

"What exactly is the issue?" Both men went to speak so she held up a hand and gestured to Malik, "Keep it short please and in English."

Malik spoke softly to her, "Maria you would be safe in Syria but Altaïr doesn't think you would want to go there for any length of time. Staying in London would be a grievous error there is no way the three of us can wipe out any threat to you here, we can't even pinpoint where those threats are coming from."

Maria nodded her understanding, Altaïr didn't want her in Syria for reasons his men would be unaware of but she wanted to be with him even less. "Fine I can't stay in London for the time being that much is clear so why not think of somewhere safe I can go instead of standing here yelling at each other with your fists clenched like a couple of bad tempered seven year olds?"

Altaïr grunted and moved to the table in the corner keeping his back to them. Maria had to fight hard not to run over and crack him across the head with something heavy, "If you can think of somewhere safe let me know and I'll consider it if not I'll sort something out myself. She moved to the door and looked back at them, "If you get us thrown out of here tonight you are going alone, I'm not leaving my nice clean bed."

"We are going to get some food delivered what would you like?"

"I've lost my appetite Altaïr good night."

Back in her room the news was on and she was watching footage from the quadruple murder that had happened the previous night in her street. She chuckled as she thought of her neighbours sweating bullets over what this bad coverage would be doing to their equity. 'God you really have become a soulless bitch Maria, four men are dead and you are laughing about it.' But her reply to her own thinking was solid, 'Fuck them they would have done the same to me.'

When a knock came at her door she decided not to reply, it would likely be Altaïr looking to ease his conscience or worse sate his lust and while the latter wasn't wholly unappealing to her she had to stick to her guns and being alone with him would only make that more difficult.

The knock became more incessant, "Maria will you open the door!"

It wasn't locked but if he was too stupid to figure that out so be it. Turns out he wasn't too stupid but he was definitely angry that she had left her door unlocked, "Anyone could have walked in here what were you thinking?" He stood in her doorway giving her what she imagined was his "You try my patience look."

She tossed the remote onto the bed and threw him a reply without looking at him. "Anyone did walk in and I guess I wasn't. What is it you want?"

His fingers clamped around her upper arm as he yanked her off the bed and onto her feet, "What possible reason could you have for being such a bitch to me!"

His scent invaded her nostrils and her memory floated back to another time he was this close to her, a happier time...

"Go away Altaïr we don't need to have this conversation." She tugged her arm free of him and tried to move past but he moved with her.

"Tell me what I did that was so wrong? It can't be getting you into this mess because you would treat Malik with the same disdain if that were the case. If it's about the time we spent together you were just as willing as I was."

She closed her eyes for a second and got her place in the conversation straight in her head, mention his wife fine but nothing else don't let him get you that angry. "When Malik was in hospital he kept calling me Adha."

"And you are angry with me for that?"

Scowling she countered, "I'm angry because you have a wife and you spent the night with me."

"Why didn't you mention this last night?"

"Why didn't you mention it before you screwed me?" She snarled and thrust her finger into his chest, "Maybe you thought..." She stopped talking and turned away from him.

"I thought what Maria? That you would be there for a day or so and we could have some fun while my wife wasn't around. Is that what you think of me?"

"I don't know you so it would unfair of me to assume anything but the fact remains you have a wife and you slept with me."

"Adha and I were married three years ago and she has lived in New York for most of that time."

She skirted around the bottom of the bed keeping as much of the room between them as she could, "I don't care where she is, you're a nasty cheating bastard and I regret ever having laid eyes on you."

"She lived in a traditional Muslim family; she wanted to go to New York to study but they would never let her leave. I married her to help her get away there has never been a physical relationship between us; she is my wife on paper only."

She stopped in front of the door she had just pulled open, "Malik only said she was your wife."

She could feel him behind her, he wasn't touching her but she knew he was close. "Abbas shot you when you tried to warn me about his signal to attack but this must have happened after you had learned of Adha but you still warned me."

Slowly she turned her face to his and nodded.

His eyes darted from the door back to her as his hand pushed it closed, "No wonder you hate me; you must have thought me a faithless bastard."

Licking her lips she breathed deeply, "Only when I found out you were alive until then I was more understanding."

"Waking up with you beside me was a rare treat Maria one I would happily repeat but I was unwilling to bring you back into my dangerous life, I'm not that selfish."

Inside she felt an almost demented urge to laugh or cry she was still unsure what form this mania would take if she unleashed it. "Yeah its fine no harm done."

'No harm done! Pregnant and on the run still... no harm done good one Maria.'

"Will you come with us to Syria when matters here have been settled?"

"I don't know you know, no offence intended but you guys are beginning to look like a group of weirdo's and the more you say the worse that gets."

"Malik and I have to go out Kadar is going to stay here with you, spend some time talking with him and learn all you can. We are neither liars or deluded Maria the life we were born into exists it is our reality but I understand why you find it so hard to believe."

"Where are you going?"

"There are a couple of leads we need to follow up on and one of our contacts wants to meet us to show us a few things." She looked away from him as his hand stroked her cheek, "I'm sorry your helping us has cost you so much." He let his hand fall from her face.

"Will I be able to go home before I leave there are things there that I would like to keep with me?"

"I'll make sure of it, we will have to wait until the police have finished their investigations but I'm sure we can get home again to collect your belongings."

He was here in front of her alive and unattached – the very things she had prayed for - yet she couldn't meet his eyes. Noticing a burn on the ring finger of his left hand she reached for it, "What is this it looks deliberate?"

He closed his eyes when her fingers touched his, savouring her cool flesh against his, "It's the mark we make when we devote ourselves fully to the assassins in days gone by the whole finger had to be severed."

She grinned and forgot not to look at him. The joke she was going to make about him missing a finger died in her throat when she saw how he was looking at her. She stepped closer to him and let her arms find his neck, let her body find his warmth as he drew her closer still and for the first time in months she felt like she was exactly where she was meant to be.

* * *

Whoever the anon was who left the lovely review thank you so much that made my day :)


	11. Chapter 11

Malik and Altaïr had been gone for hours and Maria was only now beginning to notice just how much time had elapsed. She and Kadar spent the night eating cold pizza and taking about childhood, his was much more fun than hers so she had listened far more than she spoke. Kadar possessed much of Malik's wit but none of his cynicism and the result was an utterly charming boy.

Maria was on her fourth bottle of water from the vending machine in the lobby, when he came back after this last trip he brought three bottles "To save another trip." She gulped down almost half the bottle in one go and grinned sheepishly when she saw the way the boy was watching her... amused horror was the best way to describe his expression.

"Are you part camel Maria? I don't see you eat or drink for almost 24 hours and now you are shovelling pizza and water down like it's your last meal."

Drawing the back of her hand along her mouth to wipe off the surplus water she offered the simplest explanation, "I think the stress of last night killed my appetite but it's back to normal now."

He looked at the crusty remains of the pizza then back to her but said nothing, his mother had taught him what became of men who commented on women's weight or eating habits and he was in no mood to be slapped.

* * *

Altaïr and Malik had met with their contact a small red head called Sophia who had taken them to an assassin hideout and brought them up to speed with everything they had amassed as per Altaïr's instructions from Syria. She had pictures of Maria shot mostly from a long lens camera, in a great many of the pictures Sophia was able to point out the person the Templars had assigned to follow her.

"Basically we believe she was being followed from the moment she stepped off the plane in the UK. This guy here is James Turner the man we told you about but we have literally no Intel which suggests he is anything other than a banker but like you I hate the timing of his move and his subsequent attachment to Maria." She spread the pictures across the desk and chuckled, "I mean yeah she is gorgeous but most of the time she is a miserable faced cow, why would any man want to hook up with someone like that unless he was told to?"

Malik lifted a few of the photos and had to admit the woman in them bore little resemblance to the woman he knew. "I think we can assume being shot twice and stuck in a mini war zone would impact anyone's sunny disposition."

Altaïr too was looking at the photos and seeing the same thing they were but he saw more, she smiled in some of the pictures they had taken of her and James together. But there was one picture in particular that caught his eye, her standing in the rain in a churchyard looking more lost than he would ever care to admit.

Sophia leaned over to see what had so gripped his attention and began to give him more information but not what the answers he was looking for, "Can you believe she went there? I mean the fact that she went to the Temple shows that she had made some connection between the assassins and the Templars and what does she do? She wanders right into their bloody church!"

Altaïr was more interested to learn what she feeling in that moment but this woman wouldn't have those answers and he was not inclined to comment on her acidic remarks about Maria, Malik once again took the lead. "It was probably a historical connection I am told she showed some interest in the old castle at Masyaf as well perhaps she was trying to better understand the history. That being the case going to their church makes perfect sense. The Templars have no religion so we can hardly class it as their church any more."

"It's still a place they use for meetings and drops Malik they like the history associated with the building it seems. Anyway enough of this small talk, time for me to introduce you to some of the men who pull the strings for out ancient enemies in this part of the world."

Sophia gestured to the men behind her to move back behind the wall where she rejoined them. "It looks like they are just arriving we should wait here to give them time to get inside."

Malik looked behind at the vast expanse of waste ground between them and the nearest houses and undid the clip on his holster. "How many of them do you think will show?"

Sophia dropped to her knees taking off her backpack to recheck the photos she had shown the men earlier. "At every other meeting there have been at least half a dozen but there are always twice that number of armed men guarding the perimeter."

Altaïr glanced at the pictures she was looking through, even with the ambient light from the city behind them there was almost nothing to be seen; the woman was simply going through the motions but he noticed she showed no worrying levels of anxiety and they each had their own way of handling the moments before conflict. She put the pictures back into the bag and slung it back over her shoulder.

"We should wait until the main doors close that is the best indication that they don't expect anyone else to show." She pulled a hunting knife from a leather pouch on her thigh and paused to take a deep breath before standing to face the warehouse they were here to raid.

They each took two guards from the back of the building leaving only the four at the front. Altaïr looked over the edge of the roof to the luxury cars below. They looked so out of place here he wondered if the men had made mistake using this warehouse but then they had probably been using it for many years and it had taken until recently for the assassins to learn of it. Malik would be coming around the left and Sophia from the right with him dropping down from above. They needed to keep this silent; any warning would have the men inside fleeing in all directions.

He saw Malik's head pop out, he confirmed Sophia was ready then he dropped down directly on top of the two men standing at the door. His left wrist blade ended one man's life without a struggle but the other had only been wounded. He dropped a knee into his stomach and leaned over his mouth with his forearm as he thrust his blade deep up behind his ribcage. Malik and Sophia joined him; the woman was bleeding badly on one side of her face, "Are you okay?" he whispered.

She nodded and pulled her gun from her holster, "Good to go."

Malik pushed against the door and slowly made his way inside, there were five men sitting at table and another 4 armed men standing behind them. He fired the first two bullets at the nearest men who were visibly armed as he moved fully into the room, hearing gunshot from behind him he saw another two fall. The men at the table jumped and scattered but they were taken down within seconds, only one of them managed to make it outside and into his car but the assassins had no intention of letting him get away.

* * *

Maria shifted in her bed and lifted her head, was that water she heard running? She leaned over to the side and saw a crack of light from under the bathroom door. "What the hell?"

She crept to the door and pushed it open a fraction and saw the back of a man wearing dark clothes, "How did you get in here?"

Altaïr turned as he dropped his jacket to the floor, "Your door was once again unlocked and Malik needs to use the shower in our room. I didn't think you would mind."

She joined him inside and watched him wince as he pulled off his shirt revealing a huge bruise on the left side of his chest. "What happened you look like you got kicked by a horse?"

"Hit with a car actually but its fine he didn't escape Malik got him from the other side."

Lifting his arm she saw the bruise went right under his arm, "Your ribs must be horribly mashed up."

He smiled and leaned his body against the sink.

"You go for a shower and I'll find something to wrap around your chest until you get to hospital."

The warm water cascaded over his aching body and he dropped his head against the tiles to let it work its magic on his back. Hoping she wouldn't make a big deal about his ribs he began to reach for the soap when he felt soft hands against his flesh, his mouth tugged into a smile when she reached past him and took the shower gel from the shelf.

He kept his eyes closed until he felt her move between him and the wall, felt her hands gently massaging the lather across his chest then he opened them to watch. She obviously hadn't planned on joining him in the shower she was still wearing her nightgown but the water had it clinging to her like a second skin leaving very little to the imagination. He reached out to pull her body to his but her hand slapped his away, "Just relax and close your eyes."

Her gentle ministrations continued to lull his tired brain with such skill he was disappointed when he felt the water stop and her hands left his body. She reached outside for a towel and wrapped it around his waist. "Go dry yourself off and lie down."

As he passed her to leave the shower he lowered his head to kiss her intending it to be soft but tasting her lips for the first time since Masyaf his body reacted immediately ignoring the pain he moved closer to her deepening the kiss until she pulled away. "Go lie down I'll be right behind you."

Remembering her reluctance to let him see her naked in Masyaf, he dropped another kiss on her cheek and moved into the main room. Lying on top of the bed his body still wet from the shower because he lacked the energy to dry it off his eyes dropped closed. Feeling the mattress depress beside him he uncurled an arm to let her lie beside him pulling his arm back over her when she had settled.

"I couldn't find anything to wrap you in but you seem not to be too interested in seeking medical attention. So what you go to sleep and hope there is no internal bleeding?"

He decided to steer the conversation away from his aching ribs, "I'll have to write to Adha and ask her for a divorce."

She chuckled against his chest, scared to move in case she hurt him "It's fine I'm happy being your bit on the side."

He dropped his head and narrowed his eyes at her, "Happy? Until this evening I couldn't get you to so much as look at me and now you're happy!"

"Shut up assassin and go to sleep."

"I won't always do as you say you know."

She kissed his chest and whispered, "Yes you will."

"We have to leave here tomorrow and go to another place, we got some of them tonight but not the men we really after."

"Shut up Altaïr or you can go back to the other room."

He smirked and pretended to move from the mattress but thankfully she pulled him back before his ribs punished him too heavily for his foolishness. "Good night assassin."

The image of standing alone in the rain once again flashed across his mind he couldn't associate it with the woman lying beside him they seemed like two different people but he was determined to discover the cause of her sadness.

* * *

Maria stood slack jawed looking into the boot of the car with Malik standing next to her smirking. Her stunned gaze moved to him, "What is this?"

"This is the car Sophia delivered to us this morning. Last night we struck a blow to the Templars but some of them were absent and we must now hunt them down."

"Is it the men who are after me, if you kill them does that mean I'm not in danger any more?"

"Yes and no Maria it is the men from that organisation but their numbers are great, there will always be more to take their place."

She watched the red haired girl hand Kadar a back pack, one side of her face was covered with gauze and Maria wondered if whatever lay below would scar her face, "I can't believe you just drove this car here with all this stuff in the back. How do you even know where to find all this stuff?"

Sophia patted Maria's shoulder but moved her hand when she saw the woman flinch, "Join us Maria we have all the best toys." She spoke to Altaïr briefly before getting into another car and leaving them with her gift.

She climbed into the back seat of the car much against her better judgement it had to be said, what she had just seen troubled her no end. When Kadar joined her in the back he noticed how wary she looked, "What's wrong Maria?"

"What could possibly be wrong? I mean this is all just perfectly normal every day stuff right." He raised his eyebrows encouraging her to continue, "Well a woman who doesn't look old enough to drink legally just dropped you off an arsenal big enough to overthrow a small government."

"There is not that much there Maria the ammunition takes up half the boot."

She rubbed her temples hoping it would hold back the headache she felt begin to tap at her skull. "Still look on the bright side if there is a zombie apocalypse my team is sorted!"

When Altaïr moved behind the wheel Maria asked, "Which of them is mine?"

"Hmm?" Moving the seat back to gain extra leg room but not really listening to her.

"Which of these weapons are you going to teach me to use? All of them I hope but we should start small and move up from there."

"Why would you need to learn we will take care of everything?"

"I'm not leaving my safety in the hands of a group of fanatics, you will teach me."

"Thought we were your Zombie crew Maria?"

Malik responded for her, "Zombies aside Kadar I don't think there is any real reason for you to start messing with weapons Maria, you would probably be more of a danger to yourself than any Templar." Taking a map from the pocket on the back of Kadar's seat, he asked "How long will this drive take?"

"Sophia said it will take about six hours depending on the traffic."

Maria was still digesting Malik's words when she heard the length of the drive and scowled. "Where are we going?"

Altaïr turned to her smiling, "Wales have you ever been?"

She leaned past him and saw this car had no satnav, "We're going to Wales just that Wales... not Cardiff or Swansea? You do know Wales in a country don't you?"

Malik showed her the map and pointed to their destination. Maria chuckled, "You just don't want to say where we are going because you can't pronounce it." When neither man responded she chuckled, "We are going to Aberaeron, if you can find out how to read the map that is. First you have to negotiate the London traffic and find your way to the motorway. Give me a shake when we get there."

Altaïr started the engine and grunted he would get them out of London if it was the last thing he did. Quite determined to wipe the smug grin off her face he shifted into first gear and pulled into the street.

* * *

When he took them from the M4 to the A84 four hours later he couldn't resist asking Maria if she wouldn't mind helping them with the signs now that they were no longer in English but she growled from the back seat pointing out the English word was beneath the Welsh and he was doing just fine.

"I need a break."

Everyone in the car sighed, "What? I need a break we've been driving for hours and I need a short stop for personal reasons."

Malik scoffed at her sudden genteel ways, "Now we are in the UK its personal reasons but in Syria you jumped out of a moving car and peed on the road!"

"Firstly _Malik_ there were no rest rooms, or rocks or bushes come to that. There was nothing to hide behind except the bloody car! Secondly the idiot in the front seat had me believing I was sleeping in some rapists holiday resort so had been too afraid to pee on the off chance they would hear me taking my trousers down."

"There are services a couple of miles ahead we'll pull over and have some personal time and some food."

She stood in front of the mirror in the over lit rest room and grimaced at what she saw. She looked exhausted and pasty; she pulled her bag to her and started rummaging for a hair brush and a clip. Her phone was flashing angrily at her, how had she forgotten to check her phone? She had been AWOL since a multiple murder practically outside her house and she hadn't bothered to contact anyone.

She dealt with the messages from her Mum first telling her she was sorry but she had decided to get out of town for a few days and not until just now had she read of the trouble in her street. Perfectly believable she felt since their last encounter had been a bit of a disaster.

James was next she read his messages and shut off the phone without looking at anything else. Rejoining the men in the restaurant she found her meal waiting for her but once again couldn't face eating what she was looking at. She noticed Altaïr watching her and tried to brighten her attitude but knew she was being forced and obvious.

"I need to find a charger for my phone; it had almost no power left."

Malik swallowed a mouthful of pasta, "Good let it die, in fact leave it off. You shouldn't be contacting any one until this is over."

Instead of arguing she looked at the food on her plate, she felt the anger raise from the pit of her stomach its progress to her brain being mapped by a red flush spreading across her face. "I'm not hungry I'll just go wait in the car." Aware they were all watching her she kept her head low and walked away as fast as she could.

Maria sat in the back her eyes firmly focused on the window not inviting conversation from anyone in the car and when they did try to engage her she offered terse responses. It was all becoming too much, her brain was trying to process information she simply didn't have the experience to handle. She had helped these men almost without question and since then taken almost everything they had told her at face value offering little more than scant objections to their outlandish tales but what James said... That she did understand, she had been in the news room long enough to know all about men like these and their nasty little hate filled goals. The question now is what could she do about it?

"Stop the car!"

Altaïr threw a quick look back at her, "Maria what is wrong?"

"Stop the car now please I want out." She tugged at the handle but Malik reached over and grabbed her as she pushed the door open.

"What the fuck are you trying to do?"

"I'm trying to get out I want out now. I should have done this in Syria I should never have gotten mixed up in this but I did and all I can do now is stop."

Altaïr brought the car to a screeching halt on a small side road leading to a village and Maria got out and began walking in that direction ignoring his calls for her to stop.

His hand on her arm stopped her progress but he wasn't ready for the fury which greeted him, her fist caught him solidly on the cheek. "You touch me again and I'll break your fucking arm!"

Malik and Kadar caught up just in time to see her launch a kick at their friend's sensitive area, his arm blocked it easily but that only seemed to make her madder. She began lashing out at him with everything she had some of the blows connected but most went wildly past him. "You need to just let me go I want no part in this, I don't know you I sure as hell don't trust you."

Malik tried to do what Altaïr seemed unwilling to do, restrain her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her away from her chosen victim but she turned on him. Her teeth clamped on his forearm while her hands scrambled wildly behind her to claw at his eyes.

"Kadar, get in the front seat and drive us the hotel."

Kadar was about to question Altaïr's plan until he saw him reach for her and lock his arms around her, her snapping teeth inches from his face. He took her kicks but never let go, carrying her back to the car. Malik threw open the back door for him and both men loaded the manic woman into the back seat with Altaïr maintaining his grip on her he forced her to lie down and held her there with his body weight.

The brothers both sat in the front snatching brief looks behind them as they heard her utter endless curses and threats but the assassin kept his hold on her and never reacted to any of her insults.

"We will be there soon and we will talk Maria. If you don't trust us to help you I swear you are free to go but not like this, not in this panic." He continued talking to her in this manner until gradually her struggles slowed but Malik was sure it was a tactic, she was saving her energy for her next assault and she already had a taste for his blood.

"Let me up I'll stop hitting you but you better not be lying to me I want a taxi to take me to the nearest train station as soon as we get to the hotel."

"Not as soon as Maria we will talk first but you are not a hostage."

She snorted and shoved him away from her. "I'm not a fucking puppet either."

She never spoke again instead she sat face forward with her arms folded over her chest, he could see the rise and fall slow as she regained control over her breathing but her puckered mouth told him the anger was on a temporary hiatus; it would be back and soon.

Soon turned out to be about half an hour later, she stood hands on hips facing the three assassins in their new hotel room. The Travel lodge was nowhere near as purple as the premier inn but she found herself missing the colours of her last room.

"Would you prefer to talk to Altaïr alone?"

Kadar's hopeful words had her snapping at the boy when her real anger was intended for Malik, "No stay where you bloody are, you all need to hear this." He scratched his head and widened his eyes at his older brother but stood where he was.

Malik gave Altaïr a sideways look and made another appeal to her common sense. "Maria, surely you see that this would be better handled in private, your anger has nothing to do with Kadar and me."

She rolled her eyes and moved her face until it was within inches of the unflappable Arab and despite all his years of training he felt defenceless against her glare. "You think this is some feminine reaction to him for what forgetting my birthday perhaps? No, Malik this is about you and your words and your decisions that impact my life."

She moved back to once again have all three in her eye line and groaned inwardly, they all see me as his lover even though we have done nothing more than kiss since he came here they think of me in that way. She was beginning to feel light headed and warm, a flop sweat now glistening on her skin she took a deep breath and began to lay it out for them.

"What I said in the car stands, I'm leaving. I will not submit my will to you or anyone else and no more of this bullshit about assassins and knights of old I know that is crap so you can drop it. More likely you are here on some wild fucking jihad mission and I followed you like some guileless puppy, well no more!"

For the first time since the lobby Altaïr spoke or at least tried to but she slammed her foot on the ground, "NO! You will hear me out!" Her head was swimming now she felt like she was speaking to them from underwater but this needed to be said then she would go. "I may not be like Miss fucking Scarface you got the weapons from but I'm not an idiot either." She began walking around mimicking Malik's voice, "You would be more of a danger to yourself." "You shouldn't be calling anyone until this is over and so on and so forth." "Well fuck you I am not taking it any more that man James you mentioned, he warned me about you, he said some government agents were killed two nights ago they were from the anti-terrorist branch. Yes he admitted to being involved in some undercover scheme but to protect me and to find and stop what he called one of the deadliest terrorist cells they have ever known of."

Her heartbeat was hammering in her ears and her eyes could no longer focus, she saw Altaïr move toward her and she put up her hand to push him away but when she tried to turn and exit the room the world and everything on it began spinning as her face raced towards the carpet at high speed.

Altaïr grabbed her dress and yanked her into his arms before she could hit the ground, "I'll put her on the bed in the other room."

Malik opened the door for him and whispered, "When she is recovered we will show her what we have it is unfair of us to keep some of this from her and expect her to blindly follow. But brother with a temper like that do you really think it would wise for us to show her how to use a gun?"

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The next part is written I'll submit it soon I didn't want to post an 8k information chapter :( but we need this crap to move this thing along

Thanks for the reviews and glad you liked the last one :)


	12. Chapter 12

She came to just as she felt his hands slide out from under her body she wanted him to keep them there but he took them away, it took her a few more seconds to recover her senses enough to realise what had happened. He was taking off his shirt and walking into the bathroom. She dropped her legs heavily off the bed onto the grey carpet tiles beneath her feet and followed him in slowly, anything other than slow would have made her vomit.

He knew she was behind him she was sure of it but still he dropped his trousers and stepped into the shower. "You threw up on us, I took off your clothes and put a top on you but you will need to shower." The bruise across his ribs was far worse than the night before; she stood for a few seconds watching him struggle to lift his arm to wash. There would be no helping him now something between them had changed.

Looking down at her bare and still shaky legs she moved back into the bedroom area. There was a pile of dirty clothes in the corner and a wet patch on the carpet where he had cleaned her mess. "This can't be normal I don't eat and I vomit I do eat and I vomit." Placing a hand on her perfectly flat stomach she began to wonder at what point a woman should visit a doctor to get his stuff on the right track.

She heard him moving in the bathroom then he opened the door and stood looking at her his face a perfect lesson in how to play poker. "Get in for a shower I'll find out if there is a laundry service here and get you something to eat. If you can try to delay your departure until you are capable of walking on your own."

Nodding she stood from the bed and used the wall to balance, "I lost my temper I'm sorry but you can't imagine how insane all of this is."

Stepping aside he let her pass and seconds later she heard the outer door open as he left. Much as he had done the previous night she let her head drop against the tiles but the water running down her face mingled with her tears and brought no comfort to her pain. At some point he must have come into to the bathroom because there was a clean set of clothes sitting on the shelf when she came out. The sight of them made her tears flow with even more vigour than before she angrily swiped her hand across her eyes and wished them away, "I can't do this I can't spend months having no control over my own emotions."

Delicate tapping at her outer door forced her out of her unhealthy malaise, "Come in."

Expecting Altaïr but seeing Malik's graceful stride confirmed her thinking, she had burned her bridges with that man. Placing a laptop bag at the foot of the bed he took a few steps towards the door before he paused and looked at her. "Are you unwell?"

'God how do I even look at this man I just called him a terrorist and now he is being nice?' She rubbed her forehead keeping her head low. "Not ill exactly..."

She heard his footfalls then felt the bed beneath her displace as he sat beside her, "Would you like to talk about it?"

"I'm pregnant. I haven't been to a doctor so I am going purely on the results of a piece of plastic that you pee on but I found out on the same day you all showed up." Finally gathering the courage she faced him, "I'm so sorry for what I said I planned on just speaking but facing you all at once is incredibly off putting I snapped and wound up being a malicious bitch."

"Does the father know?"

"No he doesn't in this case I think we can consider the father a donor and nothing more."

He sighed before getting to his feet but not to walk away instead he moved to her left side and sat down again, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Is it Altaïr?" She made no reply so he continued speaking, "We believed there was more to his desire to rescue you than owing you something he was unbearably driven. Can you imagine having to be around such a single minded men when he is in that state of mind?"

Resting her head on his shoulder she laughed but only because she felt it the appropriate response to his comment there was no joy in the sound.

"Don't tell him Malik I shouldn't have told you."

"What do you intend to do?"

"I honestly don't know. Three months ago my biggest problem was ignoring my mother's constant attempts at match making now I long for those heady days of peace."

"What you said in there... _some_ of what you said was fair. I have no right to assume control of your life but I've being doing this for as long as I can remember and I know how to handle things. I forgot you have only recently been introduced to the world of phone tracking and computer hacking."

"My phone was switched on until the rest stop, that's when I saw all this text messages and even then I only shut if off because the battery was dying, does that mean they know we were there?"

He smiled and nodded, "Not your fault we should have checked but no harm done we are here for only a matter of hours and to be honest are probably targeting the people they would have sent after us in any case." Drawing her attention to the foot of the bed he said, "In that bag is everything you need to learn that we are who we say we are. James Turner is a liar and has sealed his own fate, we were unsure of his involvement but now there is no doubt."

Another knock and Kadar stuck his head round the door, "Food is here."

Malik stood and pulled her up with him but she drew back. "I don't want to eat honestly I'll just lie down."

But not to be beaten he lifted her back to her feet with ease. "No sense hiding away because of a silly outburst it was nothing at all we say far worse to each other over some football team or other."

"I want to look at this stuff and let my stomach settle really I'm not hiding."

After a few more objections they left her alone. She lifted the bag and sat on the uncomfortably stuffed sofa at the window looking at file after file of information, tactics and names, there were literally years of planning here and it all seemed to back up what they said. Then she moved to the photos, most of them were all of her going back for weeks. She began to notice a man in the pictures with her and panic threatened to take hold of her when she looked back and saw he was in almost all of the pictures. They had followed her and she had been clueless but the biggest shock was still lurking in the last photograph. It took her some time to place him she had to alter his appearance to allow for time but when she imagined greying hair and ruddy cheeks she sprang from the couch and ran full tilt into the next room.

"Why is his picture here?"

Malik glanced at the man in question, "He is one of the highest ranking Templars in Europe but this is the only image we have of him and its years old."

"He is here in London now. I saw him, hell I spoke to him."

"Where did you see him?" Kadar's voice sounded the same but his face had taken on an entirely more sinister expression it was the face of a killer every bit as dangerous as the two other men watching her.

"At the church in Temple I went in there well it doesn't matter why but he is the vicar there."

Altaïr was very interested to find out her reasons for going to the church but her knowing this man was far more immediately important. "You are sure?"

She dropped her arms to her side and sighed, "Yes I am. I know you don't think I can cope with this and my recent outburst did nothing to help me but you all really do treat me like a child. Yes the mean streets of Mayfair aren't the ideal place to hone your military skills but I can learn. I don't panic you know that from Syria I did what needed to be done and under fire too. I just want to be treated the way you treat Sophia." She stopped talking remembering the horrible thing she had said about her.

"If things here go to plan we will be in Syria in few days and you will have all the time in the world to earn your place in our order but let me emphasis this Maria you will earn it, there will be no going easy on you."

Malik had barely finished speaking before Altair cut in, "She isn't coming to Syria she wants to get away from us."

Malik rolled his eyes at his friend, "Novice, when will you learn that woman seldom mean what they say when they are pissed off." Holding up his hand to Maria he added, "Yes you made some valid points like we discussed but most of what you said was worthless venting and nothing more. Besides she has something to tell you but you would know that if you weren't so determined to respect her wishes and leave her alone."

She gaped at him but he simply smiled, "What? I said I wouldn't tell him and I haven't that is your job. Now sit down and eat but everything is cold now."

"That's alright she prefers it cold she ate your whole pizza last night congealed cheese and all." Kadar shifted over as he spoke and patted the space he had just made, "Sit here and whisper the secret to me so I can torment him for a while."

She sat down agonisingly aware of his eyes on her but there was nothing she could do refusal would look petty besides which she was starving.

"Sophia and Ben will meet us in the car park in an hour, Maria you will have to stay here alone we need every available man tonight."

Dropping her fork into the carton of cold rice she was holding, "Okay Malik in spite of everything we just said to each other I'll go wait in my room while you go do whatever is it you do with GI Jane, I'll keep right on being housewife Barbie."

"Yes we did discuss this, your training will begin in a few days right now you would be a liability to us."

"Then you can swap your clothes and be combat Barbie." His attempt to lighten the mood worked Malik laughed and Altaïr smirked.

Tossing a cushion at his head Maria walked to the door and decided to have the last laugh, "Who knew being a terrorist would be so bloody boring!" She saw the carton leave Malik's hand but got the door closed just in time to hear it thump against the other side. "Have fun cleaning that up."

Her door opened and this time it was Altaïr, "Is it safe to come in?"

Lowering the volume on the TV she smiled, "Yes for now it is."

"You have something to tell me."

"Malik was being a drama queen he could have told you. James sent me some text messages about you well I told you what they said and yes he is probably involved."

He sat on the bed beside her, "Malik told me all that but then he sent me here to speak to you."

"Oh." Moving herself higher onto the pillows she nibbled her lip, "It's nothing important we can talk about it when you get back."

"You're sure?"

Grinning she nodded, "I'm so pissed off about being left here again though. I mean how will I know what has happened if something goes wrong?"

"If we aren't back by dawn leave and go somewhere nobody would think to look for you but if we don't come back they will have no further need of you Maria they were using you to flush me out."

"Let me come, I'll wait in the car I promise I don't want to sit here and worry."

Cautiously he reached for her hand and when she never pulled it away he held it tighter. "I understand your frustration but Sophia has had more training than Kadar she is a soldier like any other. What Malik said was right you being there would only give me something else to worry about and what with this..." He pointed to his ribs, "I'm already handicapped."

"Okay for now I will accept that but only for now."

"Maria I've seen you keep your head in circumstances which would have made other men wetting themselves there is a place for you in our order. Speaking of which can I assume what you read convinced you?"

She moved closer to him her eyes wide, "Those pictures were so freaking creepy I mean I just had no idea he was there."

"Also the person taking the pictures but that was one of our people probably Sophia actually."

She winced, "I never meant what I said about her the Scarface thing... I'm just evil when I'm riled up."

"I have to go but we will be fine we have been up till now."

Getting onto her knees she moved closer to his face and kissed his cheek, "I hate being left here these are going to be long hours but come back safe okay all of you." She kissed him again this time closer to his mouth but before either of them could develop it into more they heard a voice from the doorway.

"Do we all get a kiss or is that privilege reserved for the highest rank?"

She grinned and pounced out of the bed, "Kisses for all Kadar come here!" He pretended to run but she caught him easily and placed a big noisy kiss on his cheek.

Malik leaned over and helped himself to his kiss, "Did you tell him?"

"I will later once you are all back safe and sound."

"Good I'm looking forward to being an uncle."

Altaïr came towards them, "What are you two whispering about?"

"Nothing we're just being silly."

She followed Malik and Kadar into the hall with Altaïr at the end. He took her hand as he passed her and pulled her to him placing a firm kiss on her lips. "We will be back soon."

Sophia and Ben were sitting in a huge black car, Altaïr got in front with Ben and the others got in back.

"Good to finally put a face to the words on the screen but pleasantries later business first. The men we have been watching go to a cottage at the foot of the next valley every six weeks so this is our best chance to get them. Sophia gave you the layout and the guard details are there any more questions?"

None of the Syrian men had any and he hadn't expected them to. These guys were born into this life and were the most skilled and feared branch of assassins in the world. "Good then let's roll."

He had to admit to feeling a little intimidated that he would be carrying out a mission with them it was like a footballer getting to play for Barcelona or something. Glancing into the rear view mirror he saw Sophia looking at her files as always. His wife was a stickler for detail but she knew this stuff inside out, all she was doing now was keeping her eye on the prize.

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A/N Can I just say the previous chapter (11) and most of this one were written in the daze of a hideous hangover and honestly I'm too afraid to look so I'll just clean up the crap that I thankfully never submitted and move quietly on :/ It never happened...

New A/N I shouldn't drink and type so basically this went a way it never should have and rather than abandon it I've stripped away the last three chapters deleted and gone forever. This will end entirely differently now sorry if you had read it but what can I do, I'm an amateur!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N Okay so here it is the beginning of the re-write and yes I know it is very, very wrong to do this but I hated it and felt I had no choice. So short update they have just left to go on a mission leaving Maria alone in the hotel room to wait for them.

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Dropping onto the bed she glanced at the papers sitting beside the laptop feeling more than a little pissed off for being left alone she hit out at the only thing she could and scattered the items across the room. "God damn idiot woman you let them leave you again!"

Kicking the photos which had landed at her feet she noticed something scribbled across one of them that hadn't been there before. It was the one of her standing outside the church and the message scrawled across the bottom of the picture simply said, "Why so sad Habibti?"

Smiling to herself she reached over for her bag to pen a reply when she heard their voices in the car park below, "Sod this why write it when I can say it!"

Grabbing her jacket she ran to the stairs knowing she was going to have to be lucky to catch them before they left. Running past the girl at the reception desk she grinned, "These bloody taxi drivers will never wait longer than 30 seconds."

Throwing open the front door she saw the only car in the place that seemed to be moving, a huge black secret service looking number currently reversing to get out. Dashing across the tarmac sure that at any moment she would fall she ran to it and managed to hit the boot a couple of times before it pulled off. "Oh come on I ran for this I never bloody run stop the damn car!"

Red lights came on just ahead of her and she sighed thinking it might not be them in which case she is going to look like a 24 karat idiot but oh well...

The back door opened and Altaïr stepped out of the car looking more than a little confused, "Is something wrong Maria?"

Pausing not only to catch her breath but also to mentally prepare herself for how needy she was about to look, "Yes something is very wrong Altair you were leaving me. You asked why so sad, well I can tell it is because I had left you and that's not going to happen again." Moving closer to him she continued without giving him a chance to reply. "You say there is a place for me then prove it take me now."

Taking her arm he led her further away from the car, "I understand you don't want to wait and worry but you have no experience Maria I don't want to risk you being harmed."

"I want to be there; I'll wait in the car if need be but please don't leave me here." The sounds of the traffic rushing past to their left faded into meaningless white noise as her face searched his for any clue of his mood.

"Do I have a choice Maria?"

"No you don't." She dropped her head onto his chest and gave her real reason for her desperation, "I thought you were all dead and it broke my heart, I can't do that again I can't sit there and wait to see if you come back."

Resting his chin on top of her head he chuckled when he heard her offer to share her news in return for a seat in the car. "You can't bribe me Maria besides I already guessed your little secret. Mood swings and uncontrolled vomiting, I'm no doctor but..."

"Don't worry it was a one night stand I'm not going to hold you responsible, just get us to safety and then we can work things out from there. "

"We can plan our wedding later for now we have to go..."

She held her head low until she felt he would be safe from her blinding grin and then snorted, "I'm not marrying you for the simple reason that you don't like Hani Shaker!"

On the drive to their "hit" as Maria kept calling it she had to endure all manner of teasing about her chasing after them but she took it in good spirits. "So do I get a gun?"

"Would you know which way to point it Maria?"

Kadar smirked and replied on her behalf, "She'll point it at you if you keep that up Malik."

Altaïr remained quiet for most of the journey even refusing to be drawn on the debate about them being on a hit, he held her hand and let most of the conversation pass him by. Shifting in his seat so he was looking right at her he began issuing instructions to her. "You stay in the car out of sight no matter what happens. If you hear gunfire and we haven't returned within 10 minutes leave immediately."

"But –"

"Maria no buts, this is how it is to be for now." Moving his gaze to her still flat stomach he added, "You have to think about more than yourself now."

When she never replied he titled his head questioningly at her.

Attempting not to sound like a petulant child she replied, "Okay, fine yes I stay in the car and if you don't come back I leave."

The car came to a stop and the woman leaned over from the front seat, "Are we ready to go guys?"

Altaïr got out first and pulled his seat forward to let out Malik and Kadar who had moved to the back when Maria got in but instead of closing the door he got back in beside her in the otherwise empty car. "I would have wanted you with me regardless of the child Maria it is just another reason for us to be together but it's not the main reason."

His hands framed her face as he leaned forward to kiss her, "Please stay in the car."

She nodded and kissed him one last time before he left to join the others.

They left the car behind the trees and made their way to the biggest of the barns surrounding the farmhouse. Malik looked at the barns and scoffed, "This is big enough for four families to live in and they use this to store what, straw..."

Sophia moved past him to the front of the group and whispered something to her husband who leaned in toward her and kissed her cheek. Malik couldn't make out what she had said but he had told her not to worry everything would be fine.

Altair stopped walking and took in his surroundings, "Kadar get up on the roof and tell me how many men you can see."

They stopped in the shadow of the huge building and waited for the scout to return, "There are only six men up front."

"This is wrong Malik there is something very wrong here. If as we have been told the leaders of the British Templars are here this place should be crawling with guards."

Malik's eyes darted to the Englishman who now looked about ready to scream, "What did you expect to find Ben, think about it."

"You're right we have cased this place for months and when the leaders have been here the security has been much tighter but our Intel is good Malik I can't guess at what has gone wrong."

Sophia's feet danced nervously as she watched the men come to the conclusion she had never doubted they would reach, they were assassins and not about to walk into such an obvious trap. "I have to tell you something and I know what it means but I had no choice, Ben I hope you can understand I know you won't forgive me."

Her husband of four months stepped closer to her, his face now unreadable. "Forgive you for what Sophia?"

"They've been tailing me since I started photographing Maria and her shadows and yesterday they swooped and took me in." The thunderstruck faces of the men she now faced did little to ease her shame but she kept on speaking. "They were going to kill me and I got scared. That's all I have, no defence here, suddenly it just seemed like I had a lot to live for."

Altair advanced to her and she matched him step for step, him forward her back. His expression was furious but when he spoke his voice was calm and soft. "Where are they hiding?"

She had to close her eyes to block out his glare so she could find the nerve to speak. "Most are in the trees the rest of them will come from our right side, I was told to run to them as a signal to open fire."

"Give me names."

"You know them all the only one we were unsure of was James Turner, he was the one who held a kettle of boiling water over my head to convince me to cooperate."

Ben grabbed her arm, "You led us here knowing it was an ambush!" Virtually spitting the words at her she tugged her arm free.

"Yes I did and how do you think that makes me feel?"

"We can sort this out later but for now we need to figure a way out of this." Malik never took his eyes off the woman who knew in her heart she was going to die for what she had done. "We could try to get back to the car and rethink our plans."

"They will have moved into position in the trees that path is now blocked."

Thinking of the men who now stood between them and the car- not to mention Maria - he considered the shortest route back to both. "Can we count on you?"

Sophia felt nausea burn her throat with the bitter taste of bile. "You can count on me I told you about that trap remember? I'll do what I can to help you get out of this."

A blinding too bright light suddenly swallowed the darkness they had been sheltering in and a voice from behind them called out. "Open fire men and we are not looking for prisoners."

Diving for any cover they could find behind equipment the assassins returned fire fully aware they were outgunned and pinned down.

Maria saw the light shining through the trees and heard the voice call out. She had no experience to call on but had seen enough movies to understand they had been cornered. Diving over the front seat she sat behind the wheel preparing to be the getaway driver. Trying to stay calm in an impossible situation by convincing herself that Altair would not take any unnecessary risks then she realised she hadn't the first idea what he would do since he was practically a stranger to her. A stranger who fate had thrown in her path and because of the intensity of the circumstance normal etiquette had been all but abandoned. She had gone from thinking him an arrogant prick – a sexy arrogant prick – to, to what...?

Biting her lip, the knuckles of her hands clinging to the steering wheel so stretched they looked ready to pop through the flesh she tried to see something of what was happening instead of listening to the voice of reason which told her to get this car moving and get the fuck out of dodge.

Crouching low behind a broken tractor Sophia looked across to her husband and offered him a weak smile, one which he never returned. She had signed her own death warrant knowing full well no matter what the outcome of the fire fight her life would end this night. The fear she felt while in the hands of the Templars had been both unexpected and humiliating; she liked to think of herself as being unshakeable and had been proved wrong. Kadar was between her and Ben loading a fresh clip into his gun preparing to fire off another salvo of shots.

Moving closer to her husband so he could reach him to bring him closer she told him, "I'm sorry I was afraid but I can do the right thing now."

Confusion became panic as he realised what she was planning to do, "No stay down we can find a way around this you are only human they will understand." Grabbing for her as he spoke but she was already at the end of the vehicle.

"Kadar as soon as I start firing run for the trees I'll draw their fire for as long as I can."

The novice stared at her for a second before nodding. "Tell them I'm sorry they were going to pour scalding water over me but this here I can take this." Gesturing to the other side of the farmyard she smiled.

Kadar for once was lost for words, he had stayed close to her so he could plant a bullet in her brain the second she showed any sign of running for the men she had made the bargain with but this sacrifice, he had not foreseen. In Arabic he shouted to his brothers behind the low wall to run as soon as he broke cover he stopped again and nodded to her again.

Ben nudged past him "Sophia get back here we need to talk!"

Whether she heard him or not he couldn't say but she sprang up from behind the tractor and fired wildly in the direction of their enemy. As he watched her his heart filled with pride and agony in equal measures before looking behind him to see the other men running to the trees. Moving to the opposite of the vehicle he emerged as his wife had before firing in the direction she had. He saw her fall to the ground before he began to feel the searing heat in his body as the marksmen found their spot.

She saw shapes heading towards the car and started the engine. They all jumped in the same back door and someone yelled at her to drive. She could see other shapes racing out from the trees and white sparks coming from them which matched the sound of gunfire. Without further hesitation she slammed her foot down and drove.

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A/N This is what I had planned since I decided to make the story longer, I have no idea why I changed it. Sorry again for the chopping and changing


	14. Chapter 14

Updated A/N this seems as good a place as any to end this fic so that is exactly what I'm doing. I had plans for it but I got muddled and now I hate this one. Thanks for reading

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The tires spun in the dirt as she tried to make the car move too fast too soon. The men now running towards the car were getting closer.

"Maria, get us out of here!"

"I'm trying for fuck's sake, give me a chance!" Finally getting the car under control after one more sharp turn, which almost slammed the back wheels into a tree, showering their pursuers with dirt they moved off. "Where are Ben and Sophia?"

"Both dead as we all will be if we don't get moving."

Risking a quick glance over her shoulder she could see the younger of the three men grimace.

"My leg is bleeding bad but I don't think I got hit."

In the rear view mirror she caught sight of headlights coming after them through the trees, "They will likely chase us for hours and a high speed chase would draw all sorts of attention. Are you boys in the mood to take a chance?"

Altaïr's head popped up from his inspection of Kadar's wound. "What do you have in mind?"

After rounding the corner, she shut off the lights and headed deeper into the forest, leaving the dirt road behind them. Driving slowly and relying far more on luck than skill she passed as many trees as she dared before she brought the car to a complete stop. Every head in the car looked behind them as they watched the lights appear at the top of the hill they had just left behind. One by one passed them by.

"How long should we sit here?"

"Wait a few more minutes to be as sure as we can then we can move again."

It was Kadar who spoke and Maria had to grin at the boy, he was bleeding badly yet still thought with a clear head. The Al Sayf boys had balls of steel.

Nobody spoke as they continued watching the road behind them and Maria sat alone in front clutching the wheel, waiting for her hands to stop shaking.

"Are you alright?" Altaïr's hand touched her arm and she turned her head to see him only inches from her.

"I'm fine considering how fucked up this is. What about you?"

He nodded and told her the story of Sophia's betrayal and subsequent redemption, "We are lucky to be alive and Kadar looks like he will be fine so yes, considering how fucked up this could have been, I am grateful it wasn't worse."

They took a different route back to the motorway, deciding not to return to the hotel. Malik made a few calls and had someone go there for them, dressed as staff, to see if their belongings - mostly the laptop - could be retrieved. They were close to London when he received a call to tell him all the items had been taken, the rooms were devoid of even the most basic of personal items.

"Will they get a lot of information for the laptop?"

"Nope our tech guys are good at this sort of thing. Any wrong password will activate a virus which will render it useless. Any attempt to hack it will end with the same result."

They talked about James asking her for any information which would help, "He spent some time in the Congo, or at least he said he did but other than that our talks were mostly banal chatter. That man from the pictures, the vicar from the church... do you think he is keeping up that charade?"

"He is being watched already. As soon as you told us his whereabouts, he put him under surveillance."

She chuckled and when Altaïr, who had joined her in the front of the car, raised his eyebrows at her all she could say was, "This is all very cloak and dagger I feel as though I just wandered into a TV show."

* * *

They stopped at another small generic hotel and booked in with one of their many "dodgy cards". Maria was once again left with no personal possessions– only this time her companions were in the same boat and since misery does indeed love company, this detail made her own circumstances a little easier to bear.

Malik lasted all of 20 minutes before the idea of not having anything clean to his name drove him to distraction. "Maria I'm about to embark on credit card fraud on a massive scale– would you care to join me?"

Lifting her head from the laminated hotel info sheet she grinned. "It would be rude not too really." The idea of them returning with another bra fit for a glamour model was all the encouragement she needed. "Sleep first or shall we go now?"

"We'll go now–I can't bear the idea of sleeping in these clothes."

"Just make sure you get things for us too I have a hole in my last pair of trousers." Kadar poked a finger through the bullet hole in his combats and chuckled.

Altaïr scowled at the finger wiggling just beside his head. "Do you want me to clean this wound or not?"

Kadar tried to look offended but having your trousers round your ankles tends to make any attempt at serious fail badly. "Fine I was just making a point no need to be so uptight."

Altaïr had finished cleaning the young novice's leg – thankfully nothing more than a flesh wound– and had moved to the other room they had rented to await Maria's return. She and Malik had been gone for hours, and the longer he had to sit and wait for them with nothing to do, the more agitated he became.

The previous night had gone badly and they would need to plan their next move carefully but he had no doubt they would recover and find the men they sought. That thought led directly to James Turner, the man who had tried to endear himself to Maria. The assassin gritted his teeth at the idea of him being alone with her, pretending to be friendly and all the while plotting how best to use her. He was not a jealous man by nature, but thinking about them being alone caused him a surprising amount of discomfort. However, he told himself it was perfectly natural to feel possessive and protective about the woman who was carrying your child.

His child, their child... In spite of everything that was going on, he couldn't feel badly about the situation. He would, in effect, be taking them both to the heart of a war zone. But his entire life had been lived on the edge of society, never entirely safe and seldom peaceful, so he had no doubt with his help they would adapt to their new life quickly. From what he could gather, her life had been a different matter; sheltered and somewhat spoiled, he knew there were more than a few shocks in store for Maria once they returned to Syria, but she had proved to be a person of real strength. She would handle it fine and they would be together.

The door handle jiggling, rudely dragged him from his musings. Crossing the room to unlock the door, he smiled because this change, however unexpected, was more than welcome. Opening the door to the smiling face of the woman responsible for these changes, he stepped aside to let her enter.

"We stopped and got something to eat– there is food in the next room if you want to go eat." Putting the bags on the foot of the bed she began looking at their contents. "We got you a few bits and pieces but you will have to try most of it on to see if –"

He caught her hand and pulled her toward him. "Come here and give me a proper greeting."

She chuckled when she felt his rough stubble brush against her face. "You really should go eat before it gets cold."

"I'm not hungry – well not for food at least." His words were spoken against her flesh, his breath stroked the tiny hairs on her cheek making her tremble.

"Can I assume that you plan on sharing this room with me then?"

She felt him nod against her shoulder as his mouth began to explore her neck.

"I plan on sharing far more than a room with you Maria."

His hands moved against the fabric of her dress as he began to gather it between his fingers to lift it from her body. Her own arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers tangled with his tousled hair as his mouth moved back to her face to claim her lips in a soft kiss. Her lips parted and his tongue swept past her teeth, brushing light strokes against her own. She lifted her arms and let him ease the dress over her head, closing her eyes when she felt him step back from her to look at the body he had just exposed.

She heard his breath hitch, then his voice, "Look at me Maria."

Opening her eyes, she smiled softly; fully aware she was blushing standing all but naked before his greedy eyes. He returned her smile and dropped to his knees before moving her briefs down her legs and helping her step out of them. Closing her eyes again, she tried to ignore how ill at ease she felt as he took in her form. Then she felt his arms slide around her waist as his mouth dropped tiny kisses on her stomach. With every passing second, her discomfort lessened, and she slowly began to relax.

He worked his way back up her body, and her fingers began to fight with the fastenings of his shirt. Once more face-to-face, he grinned when the last few buttons wouldn't cooperate with her coaxing and she cursed. Undoing them himself, he dropped the garment to the floor and undid the buttons on his jeans. Letting them join his shirt on the ground, he stepped out of them and moved forward to his woman, taking her in his arms he held her tight against his body. Their mouths united in a hard kiss as her hands wandered over his muscled back, leaving a trail of heat, which coursed over his flesh and cajoled his senses. Her soft moans increased in volume as his fingers explored her body, finding her sensitive spots.

Breathing hard she said, "Is it okay for us to be doing this?"

He stopped kissing her and moved to look at her face. "I would never hurt you."  
Steering them to the top of the bed, he lowered her onto the soft mattress before joining her. "I'll go slow and easy. It will be fine, and if it's not, we can stop, yes?"

She smiled as he positioned himself over her and felt his feet unceremoniously kick the bags to the floor. For a second everything felt unreal and, sure she was dreaming this, reached out and took his face in her hands. "I can hardly believe you're here with me– I'm worried I'll close my eyes and you'll be gone. I was so alone without you."

He could understand both the sentiment and the pained expression, which briefly flitted across her face. For someone whose presence in his life could be measured in days, he had felt her absence keenly; she would never know how much self-control it took not to throw caution to the wind, and drag her back into his messy life just for the sake of having her with him.

Brushing stray strands of hair from her cheeks, he whispered, "We are together now, and nothing will take me from your side Maria."

He kissed her deliberately softly, forcing himself to maintain a slow, comfortable pace but his desire to once more join with her and claim her as his was proving almost impossible to ignore. He felt her hands on his hips tugging his into place between her legs, and he penetrated her with real care, keeping his movements steady and gentle.

She sighed and finally felt brave enough to close her eyes, allowing the soft waves of pleasure begin to wash over her body. When she moved her hips against his, demanding harder thrusts, she felt him groan.

"Do you feel alright?"

Alright was perhaps the understatement of the decade. The first tiny sparks of orgasm she felt coming to life in her groin were not even close to being the most important part of this. The joy of being with him, of feeling his breath against her skin, and his flesh beneath her hands was immeasurable. For the first time in her life she was truly happy. All she could offer by way of a reply was to smile and nod, almost sure she would cry if she gave voice to her feelings.

His beautiful exotic voice whispered in her ear as his strokes became firmer, transporting her from a dingy hotel room to a land of warm winds and fragrant blossoms. A land currently being ravaged by conflict and strife, but it had felt like home to her almost as soon as she stepped onto the soil. She would return there with him soon, to fight for peace and for the right to have their child grow there safely.

* * *

Thanks to juno57 for being a diamond and beta reading this chapter for me. If you haven't already seen them you should wander to her FF page and read her fics, you won't regret it :)


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